


The Deadly Survivor

by Yuu_Incredible



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Murder, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-05-15 20:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 33,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuu_Incredible/pseuds/Yuu_Incredible
Summary: Amanda Young is the newest killer to the realm. While she is successful in her hunts, she struggles with fitting into the new world and has to learn way more about it. One day one of the oldest and strongest killers around overpowers and degrades her. Since then, she's living in constantly fear and that will not stay unnoticed by others.





	1. Realisation

**Author's Note:**

> Hello people of the fog! While writing of stories and fanfictions is not new to me, writing them in english is. I try to get used to it, but there will be some mistakes in this dead by daylight tale. If you notice that I'm constantly messing up time forms or something is hard to understand, please let me now so i can improve myself! Also, I'v already written 6 chapters out of maybe 9 to 11.

She remembered her first game like it was yesterday. Cold sweat and faces in pain. Screaming and Whining. Blood and Flesh.

 

She had been a player and a game master.

She had been a winner and a loser.

 

So many things had changed, since her rebirth. How long has it been? Days? Weeks? Months? Even years? Was there even time here in this… dimension? In this hell? IIs this the punishment for her infidelity? Her punishment for playing an unfair game? These questions had been in her head all the time. But they had started to vanish. Soon she had figured out, that this world had nothing to do with the _real world_. Someone had taken a piece of a puzzle and pressed it into an surreal picture. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no expiation or hellfire. And there was no John, just this pervert and alien energy, telling her what to do.

 

Finally she had accepted her fate and became _the Pig._ Her job was to kill these weak survivors and please the the strange presence around this place. When the mist called and when she put the heavy mask over her head, she knew what her duty was: HUNT. SACRIFICE. KILL. This new power was a strange feeling for her. She was breaking massive wood pallets with her feet and was able to carry men twice her weight on her small shoulders. With her hidden blade and the reverse bear traps she became soon a powerful and successful killer. Nobody could stop her.

 

But they had adapted and then **it** wasn’t pleased for the very first time. She remembered the pain inside her bones, veins and flesh. She remembered the iron grasp around her soul and her screaming echoing in the emptiness around her. The feeling of power had vanished. Sure, she was still stronger than these teens, but she was just a servant for somebody’s entertainment. Nothing more than a puppet, a player and also a victim. Besides the frustration, a feeling of anxiety had got into her bones: She wasn’t the only killer here. Survivors are rarely talking to each other, but here and there she caught some words. It had matched with her thoughts about this alien world and soon she saw the truth.

 

Or, to be more accurate, she FELT the truth on her chest.. A heavy, black boot was pressing the air out of her lunges. A big man was standing above her, a machete in his right hand, the other one in a clenched fist. His face was covered with a grey, grinning mask with sharp teeth. She couldn’t see his eyes in the two black holes, but she sensed the feeling of superiority in them.

 

She had became a victim of her arrogance once more. A creature had crept in the halls of her new home and she had attacked it without thinking. A big mistake.

 

The grotesque effigy of a man strengthened the pressure on her chest and her rips started to burst. She coughed and spat blood, whining. A feeling of impotence wanted to grab her mind, but she stayed awake. Her thoughts and vision were blurry. The monstrous figure took the pressure away, but her guts were squeezed so hard, she wasn’t able to move anymore. He hunkered over her. His hand grabbed her pig mask and removed it from her head. The man tilted his head and began to laugh disrespectfully. He raised his massive body again and dropped the mask on her torso, before he turned and left. Hours passed before she was able to move her limbs again and in this time, she thought about life and death and everything in between. Her breath started to come back and after another hour, she raised.

 

_I cannot die._ The thought was terrifying.

_I will never be able to leave this place. There is no escape._

 

Helplessness and Loneliness began to grow. She shook her head. _Stay focused, Amanda. Why was he here in the first place?_ She put the mask above her head again. Still afraid, she carefully sneaked to the place where she had spotted him first. Gladly, he wasn’t there anymore. _What is that?_ Her shaking hands grabbed a box on the ground. It was empty and in big, sans-serif letters it said **4-Coil Spring Kit**.

 

She furrowed her brow. _That’s why he was here? For coils?_ She thought about the use of coils in this world. Does he need to repair something? Or even build? Suddenly something clicked in for her. She hastened back to her chamber, where she normally was resting between the calls. There was a reverse bear trap on a table and a Jigsaw Box in a corner. She had always wondered why they were there, because she never needed to bring them herself. Maybe… just maybe she could change or even improve them? Amanda examined the trap closer. It was the same John had used for his games, except for the timer. In this world, it started when a generator was finished. But besides that, they were the same.

 

_What could I do…_ Amanda eyeballed the Box. Maybe she could find something to improve her tools? Back in the halls the Pig started to search for usable things. She searched in a chest and found some utility blades along with some razor wires. After a while she realized that there was also a lot of other stuff around, that she probably could not use, like some more coils, a spark plug and some kind of booze. She played with the thought of getting drunk in a place like that, but it would not be a good idea at all. In the last room, she noticed something sparkling inside a pig’s head. She pulled it out. It was a bottle with… moving gas in it. Carefully she popped the cork but the gas stayed in the bottle. She tried to sniff it, but it was scentless. Suddenly she heard some kind of breathing. It was weak and far, far away. She held the opening to one of her ears. It sounded like an ataxic respiration. She closed the bottle again and decided to keep it.

 

Back in her chamber she took on of the blades she found and tried to place it inside the reverse bear trap on the desk. It fitted perfectly. Her blood ran cold. _That’s way too perfectly_ . The blade was _made_ to be in there. But what will it do in the end? Her hands were shaking again, but this time out of excitement. Amanda sat down on the dirty old mattress in her room. All she could do now was to wait.

 

_Let the games begin._


	2. Around The Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I uploaded the 3rd instead of the 2nd chapter *oops*. Take 2 new ones instead!

There was blood all over the white tiles at the Memorial Institute. Large, dark puddles led the killer to a red locker in one of the many shower rooms. The Pig opened it and inside was a terrified looking young teen with red, braided hair and a trap on her head. She grabbed her, threw her over the shoulder and carried her to the nearest meat hook. The survivor screamed before the spider legs transfixed her body. _Just one more._ Amanda got lucky with this realm. It was easy to track injured survivors, because the blades caused deep wounds on her heads and so they were constantly bleeding, leaving pools of blood on the bright floor.

 

The pig was creeping in the corridors. The only survivor alive was a boy with black hair and a green jacket. He was one of the calmer survivors. He never screamed or whined when she rammed her blade in his body. _Where are you, tough boy._ Suddenly Amanda heard a familiar, ominous hymn. There was the hatch. All she needed to do now was to wait. Amanda crouched behind a pillar.

 

Léry’s Memorial Institute. There were a lot different realms, most of them were outdoors. But this place and her very own realm were different. She liked them the most. Since her “meeting” with the monstrous man, she wondered if every other killer had his own place just like her. What kind of killer had a research center as his home? A patient? A Doctor? And could you find these places outside of a round? The man came from somewhere and went back. so probably…

The hatch suddenly closed. Without her noticing the last survivor sneaked up and escaped. Infuriating, but she sacrificed the other three, so it would be fine. The mist got thick around her and after it cleared again, she was back at the meat plant. Amanda quickly checked if her little hide-out with all the stuff she found was still save (inside a toilet) and also looked after the reverse bear trap in her room. The blade was gone. _Interesting. If I use something, it will disappear after a round._

 

Amanda came to a decision. She wanted to leave her place for the very first time. There is a big metal door upstairs that probably leads to the outside, but she was always too scared to check and still is, but the curiosity was stronger. After a couple deep breaths Amanda grabbed the doorknob and pressed. The door swung wide open and revealed her a moonless night. The cold wind played with her red cape and she finally stepped outside.

 

**

 

The wood was dark and a dense fog lied on the ground. There was a path between the massive trees, but she decided to stay in the save shadows aside them. Carefully she followed the trail deeper into the woods. After some curves a light appeared in the distance and she slowly sneaked closer.

 

It was a big campfire and in front of it was a big, mysterious shadow. She stayed under the cover of darkness. It’s the monstrous man with the grey mask and the heavy boots. Anxiety spread in her body but she stayed. The big figure stared into the fire. Then he threw something in it and black smoke began to rise, but Amanda couldn’t see what it was. Suddenly Amanda heard footsteps. Another creature appeared at the fire and also threw something into it.

“McMillan.”, said the unknown person in the white coat. He had a deep but scratchy voice.

“Carter.”, answered the man with the haunting mask.

“You got something for me?”, asked Carter, he sounded greedy.

“You know the deal.”

“Of course, of course…” Carters hand wandered into his pocked. He pulled out a bottle with dark liquid in it.

“So?”

McMillan took the bottle. “Good, good. Here.”

The masked man gave his vis-à-vis some kind of briefcase.

“Very good. Very, verry good!”, Carter’s laughing was uncomfortable, “It’s always a pleasure to do business with you!”

“Shut up. It was so easy to find, even you could have done that.”

“So? Where did you got this?”

McMillan triumphantly folded his arms. “The new place.”

Carter laughed again. “Tell me about our newest killer.”

“A laughingstock. Just a little, scared girl. Just see for yourself. I bet you scare her with your ugly face alone.”

 

A mix of anger and shame started to boil inside Amanda. She wanted to attack him. To kill him! But she stayed covered.

 

“A little girl, how unusual. I wonder what kind of power she has.”

“Ambush attacks.”

“Ambush attacks?”

“She crept up on me. I must admit, I didn’t notice her at all. Her blade was like 5 centimeters deep into my arm. Like a mosquito bite.”

Carter wolf whistled.

“It was surprisingly easy to tackle her down. I crushed her ribcage, You should have seen her face.” McMillan sounded proud.

“And then? Was she afraid? Did she scream?” Carter was obviously excited by his story. His foot was tipping up and down.

“She didn’t scream, but she definitely was frightened.” He made a pause. “She also cried.”

 

 _I DID NOT!_ Amanda was torn between being angry and anxious.

 

“Oh, how _wonderful_!” Carter clapped his hands.  “Maybe I should visit her too.”

McMillan put a hand on his right shoulder and rolled it until you heard a cracking sound. “Yeah, do that.”

“And.. how was it for you, my dear McMillan?” The masked men stopped his movement and stared at the other.

“How was it… to finally dominate someone again? I heard you are doing very poorly lately.” Carter tilted his head to his side.

“Just one more word and i will knock your teeth out until you don’t need this ugly brace anymore.” McMillan sounded very angry and raised his weapon. Carter put his hands up in slight defense.

“Alright, alright… I need to go back anyway. The fog is calling.”

“Yeah. Get lost already.” They both turned into the opposite direction. Finally Amanda could see the face of Carter. She gasped. There was a gadgetry on his face that caused his eyes wide open. Also it exposed his blank teeth.

 

McMillan followed a path away from a fire and Carter got covered in dense fog, until he disappeared. Amanda got out of her cover. Whatever they had burned, it was gone already. She noticed a couple of paths around the fire leading into the darkness like dark sunbeams. _It’s already really risky to be here. Should I really go further?_ The Pig turned her head in the direction where Carter originally came from. _He won’t be at his place. He does his duty right now._ The girl collected all her courage and followed the trail into the unknown darkness.


	3. A friendly ghost

It took some time to get to Carters place, but Amanda was nearly there. The environment started to change slightly and it began to snow a little bit. She finally saw the entrance but something concerned her, a feeling of paranoia. She turned around a couple of times but the path behind her was empty.  _ I think I’m losing my mind…  _

The entrance of the building reminded her of the clinic she had been in before John saved her soul. She shook off the thought of her past like the snow of her shoulders.

 

The inside of the institute seemed to be chaotic and clean at the same time. She saw similarities and differences between this place and the realm she had hunted in last. Amanda watched the white noise on one of the many televisions in there.

Suddenly a stertorous breathing reached her ears. She quickly turned around.  _ Nothing.  _ Her breathing became quicker.  _ Calm down, Amanda. Calm down.  _ Her eyes were scanning her surroundings, but nothing unusual was found. She took a deep breath and continued the search. 

The building was very complex and confusing. In the middle was something like a main treatment area with a lot of patient beds. There were leather straps on every one of them for medical restraints. On one of the little rolling tables was a shattered syringe. Amanda tilted her head. She felt the need to take it and so she did. There was something else on the table, an old medical file. Amanda took a closer look. 

 

The heading said  **John Kramer Medical File** . 

 

Amanda grabbed it instantly.  _ Why… How is that possible?  _ She folded it in half and put it in her pocket.  _ No time to think about that right now. This place is just messing with my head, that’s all. John is not here. He  _ **_can’t_ ** _ be here.  _

_ But what if… Can I really be sure? Detective Tapp is trapped in this strange world too, even though he has no idea it’s me under the mask. Maybe it took John too. Maybe- _

 

The sound of a rolling table caught her attention. She saw it rolling in one of the corridors, slowly losing the speed and softly bumping into a wall. She needed to go,  _ now _ . Amanda lowered herself and started to sneak back to the entrance. On her way, she heard heavy footsteps and a light humming. The air felt suddenly slightly electric. Amanda picked up her crouching speed and managed to leave the building without being seen. The layer of snow in front of the doors showed deep imprints of Carters shoes and also lighter ones. Hers. Did he notice? Amanda spotted another, even lighter imprint in the snow. They were longer and also smaller. The Pig turned around to the entrance one more time until she made her way back to the meat plant.

 

***

 

The paranoia was still there and even stronger. Everytime she took a step, she could’ve sworn to hear one behind her as well. Her speed increased the closer she was to her own realm. By the time she was at the entrance, she was already running. She slammed the door behind her while breathing heavily. The Pig slowly took some steps forward. Mud dropped from her ankles to the floor.  _ What is wrong with you? Are you a killer or a baby?  _ Amanda rubbed her neck and was already on her way back to her chamber, when she heard the footsteps again. They sounded like bare feet on the ground. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. Behind her, in a puddle of mud, there were two visible imprints. It also seemed like dirt was stuck in the air. She clenched her fist. Without any words of warning, Amanda spun around and buried her blade inside an invisible torso. The unseen creature howled deeply and flinched backwards. Slowly it started to uncloak itself.

 

It was a large, slender man with a black and grey coat around his torso. Some blood dripped on the floor. His long legs and arms were covered in dirt and bandages. His face was full of mud and branches stand out his head. A pair of white eyes stared at her, but he remained silent. In his one hand was a large, obscure bell and in the other he carried a spine with a skull on top. The pig kept her offensive position.

“Who are you and why do you follow me?” She had a hard time stabilising her shaky voice but the creature wasn’t responding. Amanda raised her weapon.

“Talk, or…” Her threat is idle.

The man tilted his head to one side, then to the other. 

“Philip Ojomo, the Wraith.”, he finally spoke, “I saved you.”

“Wh--what? Explain yourself!” 

“The Doctor noticed your presence and you stood around staring at a piece of paper. I rolled the table to you for your attention and to warn you.”

“Why?” Amanda sounded very surprised.

Philip took a long pause before answering.

“I needed to see who you were.  **How** you were.” This man didn’t make any sense to her.

“This doesn’t explain anything. Just speak clearly already, or-”

“Or what?” The Wraith came closer to her and smiled.

“I know, what the Trapper did to you. Also I saw you crouching in the bushes while you listened to him and the Doctor. You rarely took the clear path and always sneaked in the shadows, because you were afraid to get found, am I right? You threats are empty. You don’t have the power.. no.. you don’t have the  _ determination  _ to injure someone seriously.” He placed a hand on his stab wound. “It’s not even that deep.”

His words were hard but his voice was calm and without any kind of derision. He didn’t want to intimidate her. Amanda lowered her blade. She wasn’t angry anymore, but she felt exposed. Was she the weakest of all killer? Was nobody afraid of her?

“You are like me, aren’t you?”, the Wraith spoke again, “we are all murderers. But our motives are very different. But you and I, we did, what we did not because we liked to. That’s the difference between you and the Trapper. Or the Doctor.”

The blade disappeared in her sleeves again.

“Can you tell me more about the others?”

“I could. But as a consideration, you will let me search your place for my belongings.”

“Your belongings?”

“Yes. Bones, white paint, symbols.”

The Pig nodded slightly.

“And what about your name?”

“Amanda Young. The Pig.”

“And can you…”, he hesitated for a moment, “can you pull of your mask? I want to see your true face.”

The girl thought about it for a moment but finally took of the heavy pig mask. Long, black hair fell over her shoulders and a pair of brown eyes looked at him. 

“Happy now?”, she barked at him, clearly uncomfortable. 

He looked directly into her eyes smiled softly. “I envy you.”

“For what?”

Philip shook his head.

“Not important.”

Amanda quickly placed the mask over her head again.

“Shall we begin, Amanda?”

 

**

 

The Wraith started to search her place really closely and also really fast. She had a hard time keeping up with his walking speed.

“Let’s begin with the Trapper, Evan McMillan. You already know him.” Amanda swallowed under her mask. “What do I need to know?”

“He isn’t a nice or merciful man. He always leaves his own place to search around in other realms, without asking. Also he tries to scare new killers, but that’s not always successful. Take the Doctor, for example. They fought for a long time against each other but now they have a deal. They don’t visit each others places but they exchange the stuff they found at the campfire. He hunts with bear traps. Keep an eye on the ground if you ever want to explore his forest.” Ojomo didn’t directly talk to Amanda while speaking. His eyes scanned a  wall in front of him. “Here you are…”, he mumbled and stared at a symbol looking like a sharp eight. He wiped his hand over it and it was gone.

“The Doctor’s name is Herman Carter. He is very intelligent, but as merciful as the Trapper. His ability are electric shocks. Very painful. I don’t think he ever was a real Doctor.”

“His realm is the Memorial Institute, right? What place belongs the the Trapper?”

“The shelter woods, the coal tower, the suffocation pit. He has a lot of places. You can always recognize them by the grayish trees and dark grass. Hee also was the first.”

“The first?”

“The first killer in this world. At least that’s what he’s claiming.”

Philip twisted a bone between his fingers.

“Also there are the two hillbillies. The older one appeared here at the same time as me. The other one, also known as the cannibal, came later. But they share a realm.”

“Two killers share a place?”

“Yes. They are not very smart, but very alike. Maybe that’s why they don’t try to kill each other? I don’t know.”

The Wraith looked at Amanda again.

“The live at the Coldwind farm and rarely leave it. You should not try to go there or communicate with them, they are like wild animals with chainsaws instead of claws. Unless you manage to scare them like the Trapper did.”

“Chainsaws? That’s their power?”

“Yes. Very painful.”

The Pig placed a hand on her hidden blade. They had chainsaws and she had a small knife attached to her arm. It felt a little bit unfair. Philip spotted a big rusty blade inside a pig’s head. 

“Heads like this one are the favorite of the Huntress. A strong woman living in the rainy red forest. She throws hatchets after her prey. Also she doesn’t speak our language, so you can’t talk to her. Only Sally was able to communicate with her, probably because she’s a woman. But she really hates man. Even the Trapper stopped searching in her forest.”

“Sally?”

“Uh, yes. Sally Smithson, the Nurse. She is like you and me, an afflicted soul.” Philip sounded sad for a moment. “Her realm is the asylum. She hates confrontations, that’s why you can go there without asking or worrying. But please be respectful. If you want to search there, bring her something in exchange.“

Amanda nodded again. A lot of killers, a lot of names.

“What does she need?”

“Hard to tell. She likes metal spoons, matchboxes, little wooden horses… but the most precious things are bottles with breath in it.”

“Breath?”

“Or wheeze. Respiration. You get the idea.”

The Pig thought about the bottle she had found. It had to be one of hers.

“What else…”, whispered Ojomo quietly.

“Ah!” He wiped over a symbol again.

“The Hag. I also don’t know her name. She has a rotten mind. Her place is the swamp and she likes all the stuff related to that. She is not aggressive as the hillbillies, but unreadable. One moment she’s afraid and hiding, the next she tries to bite your arm off. But you can actually trade with her. Just… don’t complain about the stuff you get. She doesn’t like that. Unlike the other narrow minded killers, she likes to explore other realms.”

Suddenly, Philip stopped.

“There are two more killers. One is rather new, the other not. I will start with the new one, the one that arrived before you.” He looked very serious.

“Freddy Krueger. Better known as the Nightmare. I can tell you nothing else about him. I never met him or saw him. His realm is the Preschool, but don’t go there, not even the Trapper does.”

Philips eyes wandered off to a cracked wall. A shadow was moving back and forth slowly, caused by a hanging pig head and the dazzling light of the lamp on the wall behind it.

“Last but not least… Michael Myers.” Something about Philips voice seemed off. It wasn’t as calm as in the beginning. “The Black Man. The Shape. The Shadow. The Pure Evil.” The Wraith looked insistently at the Pig.

“He doesn’t speak. He is unreadable. He is uncontrollable. Never go to Haddonfield ever. He will know you are there before you can even think of it. He will kill you.”

“Nobody really dies in here.”

“You think so? I will tell you something. You die. you die and after that you revive again. It’s an endless cycle full of pain.”

Philip stared at the hanging pig’s head. He reached up for something. His slenderly fingers ran over a dull necklace with pearls.

“He probably was already here, without you noticing. Normally, he doesn’t show any interest in other killers but…”

Ojomo stared into Amanda’s eyes once more.

“I know I asked you to remove your mask but don’t do it too often. I’m afraid he could mistake you for a survivor.” Again, his words should cause anger in her, but his voice was neutral as in the beginning.

“I understand. How do you know all these things?”

“Observation. Experience. I’m one of the very firsts as well. You are the 11th.” 

“... I see… and where do you live, Philip?”

“Autohaven Wreckers. It’s the path vis-à-vis yours. But now I need to go. It was nice to meet you, Amanda Young.”

“Is the fog calling?”

Ojomo smiled strangely.

“No.”

With two chimes he cloaked himself and the sound of his feet softened in the distance.


	4. Where You Belong

The realms were changing. Big objects stayed where they were, but smaller things appeared or disappeared from time to time. There were always new things to discover in the meat plant, no matter how often she wandered around the corridors. Her collection started to grow rapidly. Amanda also found a lot of things that could belong to Philip. She often thought about what he said to her.  _ Am I really like him? _ She couldn’t be sure about what he did to end up here, but judging by his behaviour, it was probably some kind of accident. But herself… She helped John with the games and also did her own ones. None of the deaths were by accident, everyone deserved the ending they got.  _ John… _

The medical file she had found was disappointing. It was an exact copy of the one he had in the hospital, nothing more, nothing less. Also Philip knew every killer in here but he didn’t mention anyone named after her master. From time to time, she was missing him badly. She wanted to apologize and explain herself to him. This place was lonely and she craved for an advice. Master, Teacher, Father, he was all that to her. She was stuck in this strange dimension, probably never able to escape and really  **die** . Her eyes got wet and she reached under her mask.  _ Being melancholic will nothing do for you, Amanda. Stand up!  _ She raised herself of the mattress. It was time to visit the Wraith.

 

**

 

With his clear location plan, it was easy for her to find the junk yard. She stayed off the path and in the shadows again but didn’t take as long as the last time to the fire and further. The forest was thinning out a little bit and everything became more grey. After a while, she spotted the first junk piles.  _ Nearly there. _

Amanda saw a workshop in front of her, surrounded by a lot of tires and broken and car wrecks. She slowly walked closer, already seeing a familiar figure inside the building. On a chair right next to Philip was someone else. The girl stopped. He looked upset, he raised and lowered his arms over and over again, talking to the smaller figure in the chair. It didn’t move the slightest. She decided to check the situation first. Therefore the Pig crouched behind some tires and sneaked over them. 

The figure in the chair was obviously a woman. She was dressed in white and her face was covered as well. Philip didn’t seem happy at all. Who could this person be?

 

“What do you think you are doing here?”

A rough hand grabbed her collar and pulled her back, taking her completely by surprise. The hand now was squeezing her into the tiles in front of her body so she had to bent over them. Her mask covered her neck, but it still hurt. 

“McMillan.”, she gasped.

“Oooh, Miss Piggy learned something, I’m impressed.” She felt his massive body pressing her more into the tires while he leaned forward to whisper something in her ear: “Sneaking around and eavesdropping on people. Is that everything you can?”

His grab hardened and Amanda squeaked.

Evan laughed.

“You even sound like a little piglet. How adorable.”

“Get… your hand off me.” Amanda was out of breath and therefore her words sounded weak. “Yes, sure. Everything else Ma’am?” His sarcastic voice filled her face red. McMillan got up and stepped backwards, pulling her with him. Then he pressed her down. His fingers drilled into her neck muscles. She tried to wrest from his hand, but they were made of iron. Finally her knees weakened and she sank to the ground. 

“We’re getting closer, piggy.” He pressed more and Amanda gave up.

Her face was pressed into the earth..

“All of you. Do it.” She stretched her legs out as well as her arms. Her mask was hiding her shame, anger and tears.

“That’s where you belong, into the dirt to all the other pigs. You are wretched. Pitiful. Ignoble. Weak.”

 

“Evan!” It was the voice of the wraith and the Trapper lifted his head.

“Philip… and Sally? Charming.”

“Let her go, Evan.”, said the Wraith calm but precise.

“And why should I - no, of course. You are right, my  _ friend _ . But I will tell you… she will remain there. She knows here place now.”

The Trapper pinched her neck once more.

“Isn’t it like that, little piglet?”

Evan stood up but Amanda didn’t move at all. Her body felt heavy and deaf.

“Amanda…”, said the Wraith but nothing happened.

“Amanda it is?” McMillan laughed spiteful. McMillan lowered himself once more. Everything tightened in here as soon as he petted her covered head.

“What a good girl. Such a good girl.” He got up and snorted, eyeing the other two before he turned around and left.

Philip tried to reach for Amanda but she hissed. “Let me be!” He respected her wish. “We will be inside, whenever you are ready.” 

 

**

 

After Amanda got herself up, she followed the two inside the workshop. Sally offered her the seat and she took it without looking into their faces. She grabbed the material of her cape in her lap and squeezed softly.

“You are not weak, Amanda.”, began Philip to talk but she showed no reaction, “I was at the ground multiple times in the beginning.”

“What did you do against it,”, she finally spoke. The Wraith leaned against a wall. “Nothing. He lost interest.” 

Sally gave him a meaningful hit in his side with her elbow. 

“My dear, let me see your neck. Maybe I can allay your physical pain a little bit.”

“How?”

“Evan probably pinched your nerves in your neck. I can pull them out again, that will speed up the healing progress.”

Amanda sightened a little bit but finally pulled the masked of her head. Her eyes were still red.

“Bend your head a little bit... Yes, like that.” Sally put a hand on her hurting neck. She took a deep breath. The Pig felt pins and needles inside her, but it wasn’t painful at all. Sally exalted again. Amanda’s neck felt much better now and she looked up in surprise. 

“How did you do that?”

“Telekinesis.” Her mouth formed a smile, but it was barely noticeable under the thin material. “I use it to teleport from place to place. Very useful when I hunt.”

“Very painful as well.”, said Philip and earned a glance. 

“Yes… but don’t worry, this didn’t hurt at all.”

“I understand. Thank you, Sally.”

Sally carefully placed her hand on Amanda's cheek.

“You are so young and human. It’s sad to see you in a place like this. Sallys other hand brushed through her black hair.

“Such a shame…”

“Sally.” Ojomo touched her by her shoulders.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I was in trance for a moment. Forgive me.I need to go back to the asylum now.” 

Only now Amanda noticed something strange about the Nurse. She didn’t walk, she hovered over the ground. For a second, it looked like she wanted to reach out to Philip, but decided against it.

“Goodbye.” She lifted her arm, inhaled a lot of air and with a loud screeching she was gone.

“Now that this is over, what did you wanted here in the first place, Amanda?”

“Ah…” Amanda searched in her pockets for something. “I found these bone clappers but I’m afraid they broke.” She showed him two bones with a ring on the end. One of them was cracked, the other one broken in half. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Thank you.” He took them anyway.

“May I search your yard?”

“My yard?” Philip laughed. “I live here, but it’s not mine. it belonged to my boss. I’m just a leftover.”

“But… your boss is not here, right?”

Philip tilted his head to one side. “Maybe… maybe not. Who knows” A strange refulgence filled his eyes. “But feel free to take whatever you need.”

The Pig nodded and put her mask over her head again. “Thank you.”

 

**

 

Amanda was a little bit disappointed about the things that were actually useful. There was just one very specific item that caught her attention: a video tape.


	5. Nightmares and Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was never someone that felt the need to have notes before chapters or after because I wanted to keep it "professional". But I really really really want to say THANK YOU. I was so afraid that nobody want to read this story. And I'm still really nervous with every chapter! Writing in english is a tough challenge for me and getting some credit for it is boosting my confidence. Thank you so much for the comments and the kudos. <3 You are the best!

_ Hello Amanda. You don't know me, but I know you. I want to play a game. Here's what happens if you lose.  _ **You are weak.** _ The device you are wearing is hooked into your upper and lower jaws. When the timer in the back goes off, your mouth will be permanently ripped open. Think of it like a reverse bear trap.  _ **You are wretched.** _ Here, I'll show you...  _

 

_ There is only one key to open the device. It's in the stomach of your dead cellmate. Look around Amanda.  _ **A little, scared girl.** _ Know that I'm not lying. Better hurry up. Live or die, make your choice. _

 

_ Make your choice. _

_ Make your choice. _

**Make your choice.**

 

Soaked in sweat Amanda shot up. She sat on the mattress in her chamber and her eyes looked around hectically. The girl spotted the pig mask on her feet and with a scream she kicked it off the edge. She reached for her throat and panted for air, while she stumbled off the mattress. Her muscles began to cramp and her body sank to to floor. Amanda pulled her hair painfully, kicked around and finally twisted herself out of her cape. Her eyes stared at the blade at her arm, it extended and in the next moment, she cut herself. The girl whined in pain and cut again, but deeper. Dark blood dripped down on the floor and finally her pulse lowered itself a little bit. She panted heavily as she lied on the ground, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly her head began to spin. Amanda rolled over and puked heavily. 

 

“Water… Water…” she whispered in delirium. She crawled over the ground and pulled herself up in the door frame. 

“Water…” Amanda wandered off slowly and wobbly.

 

A little, crippled creature quietly got into her chamber. The scraggy figure sniffed the ground first and finally the air. She moved forward on all four of her twisted limbs. Something squishy caught her attention. She stuck a finger in the puddle out of blood and vomit, sniffed it and finally licked it. She did that a couple of times.

A rumbling noise caught her attention, but the corridor was still empty. The Hag spotted the pig head on the ground. She carefully sniffed it and then took it between her bony hands.

 

“HEY! What are you doing?!” The loud voice of Amanda made her flinch. She hissed at her and in the next moment, the Hag was gone.

“What?!” The Pig without head stumbled into the room, but the intruder disappeared. 

“Shit.” Amanda cowered and teared her hair. “Shit shit shit shit SHIT!” She took a couple deep breaths.

“Think, girl. Think…”

_ That must have been the Hag. What did Philip say about her? She lives in the swamp, likes to explore and you can actually trade with her? _

Amanda instantly got up on her feet and looked in her little hide-out for something that could please the Hag but nothing in there reminded her of marsh. Except…

_ Except your  _ **_smell_ ** _. _

 

**

 

It didn’t matter how deep she pulled her hood into her face, it was too obvious that something was missing. She could kick herself in the butt for what happened. Since her awakening here, she never felt the need for something. No food, water, sleep, not even personal desires like alcohol or… hurting herself. Nothing. And all out of sudden this happened. She didn’t understand. Was that normal? Should she talk about that with Philip? The girl shook her head. It had been already embarrassing what happened in front of his workshop. There is no need to prove her weakness once more. 

 

Amanda reached the fire in no time. Nobody was there, but she still crept around in the shadows. There was just one big problem: What was the right way to the swamp? She took a wild guess. 

 

**

 

The forest around her didn’t change at all, it was clearly not the right way but she kinda wanted to know where the path led. It was maybe not the best time to learn about the trails, but did she really had a choice? The  fog around her got more dense. What would happen if she got called like that? Was that even possible? Amanda swallowed. There is no place for sorrow right now. She needed her mask. An oppressive feeling lied down on her shoulders, she knew she wasn’t alone anymore. Amanda lowered herself in the thicket even more. Nobody was around but the mist became more and more troublesome. Suddenly she heard a scratching. It was like someone scratched something into the tree right next to her. Amanda stood up. Her eyes widened. Right in front of here were letters carved in the wood of the tree and they continued to appear. 

 

**Wrong way... Little Red Riding Hood.**

 

She hesitantly touched the carved words with her fingers. Without warning, something scratched brutally over the words and the tree bursted. Amanda was terrified. She ran into the woods, not looking behind. A deep, slow laughing filled the air.

 

**

 

When the mist faded around her, she stood ankle-deep in morass. She panted heavily and rested with her hands on her knees. She had no idea how she got here, but this was definitely the swamp. Hopefully her mask was here.  _ What was that? Another killer? Or the entity itself?  _ She closed her eyes for a moment.  _ No time to think about that right now, Amanda. Focus. _

The further she walked, the deeper and heavier the morass was. It took a while to find a rack to stand on. The fragile wood creaked under her feet, but it was the only way. Her pants were wet and her boots heavy from the mud. Her hair stuck on her sweaty face. Hopefully she didn’t need to fight.

Amanda followed the way until she stood right in front of a ship, the  _ Pale Rose. _ She remembers the boat. The swamp wasn’t exactly her favorite realm to hunt in, but there were a lot of hiding possibilities. The Pig noticed a hole in the bug and something small moving in there. She swallowed the thought of searching for cover and stepped forward. There was no time to lose. 

 

“Hey.” she called for the boney figure and she reacted quick. The Hag turned around in her hide and hissed at her.

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to harm you.” Amanda lowered herself to be at eye level with the Hag. She had a hard time to control her voice, but she managed it. 

“I have something for you.” the Pig pulled out a mint rag of her pocket and reached it out to her. The Hag wasn’t interested at all und simply turned around again. Amanda stood up and went forward, until the twisted figure spun around again, hissing more aggressively. It would be a lie to say that Amanda wasn’t afraid. But this was here only chance of getting her head back. 

“Let’s trade. My pig head against this lovely mint piece of clothing.” She lowered herself and reached out again. Finally the Hag moved out of her hiding. Amanda had now a good look at her. her one hand was disgustingly bigger and with sharper claws than the other. Her skin was rough and grey. Barely any clothing covered her body. She looked scary, but also scared. 

“Come on, please…” Amanda waggled with the piece of clothing. Carefully the Hag came closer. She suddenly grabbed the mint rag and flinched back instantly. Amanda waited patiently while the Hag sniffed at her present. She tilted her dirty head to the side and stroke the soft material softly. Than she buried her face in it.  _ Is she accepting my offering?  _ The Hag looked up, directly into her eyes. Without a warning, Amanda was grabbed by her hand and drawn into the Hags hideout and she nearly hit her head at the entrance. The Hag pulled her down and Amanda sat. She finally released her grip and started to look for something inside the cave. Amanda took a good look around. There was a lot of stuff in here. Dead insects and other small animals, bones and rotten eggs, but also a lot of junk and trash.  _ She’s… a hoarder.  _ Suddenly the Hag presented Amanda her pig head proudly. Feathers and wings of various insects where plaited into the hair and a piece of the tip of the right ear was missing. Behind the left ear was a yellow swamp flower. The rest of the head was covered in bloody mud. 

“Thanks for decorating...” Amanda tried to take her head, but the Hag pulled away. She hissed. 

“Alright, alright…” The hag hold the mask above the girl and lowered it. Amanda understood. She closed her eyes. She missed the heaviness and instantly felt secure. But as soon it was on her, it was gone. The hag pulled the mask away and fumbled in the pig’s hair again, slightly shaking her head. She put it down beside her and grabbed a rotten egg.  _ More decorations? _ “May I explore your home in the meantime?” Amanda pointed at the outside an circled her finger, but the Hag’s mind was already on the pig’s head again.  _ I take that as a yes. _

  
The swamp was way bigger than she expected it to be. But the most unsettling thing was a building that reminded her of a pantry. There were a lot of shackles at the wall and half of them were filled with skeletons or at least parts of them. She also found a lot of smaller hooks for meat. Something unusual caught her attention. There was a dead tree sticking out of the morass. He was holed and in his inside was a dark liquid boiling. The smog smelled terrible.  _ I need this.  _ The thought was suddenly there but she believed her instinct once more. Amanda found some empty bottles and tried to scoop the toxin carefully out of the tree. She was concentrating on not getting her hand burned by the toxin and wasn’t aware of the big, dark figure creeping up behind her.


	6. Boldness and Brutishness

The trap triggered in the right moment. Amanda spun around and gazed in the face of _ the Bogeyman.  _ He stood above her, ready to strike her with his big, sharp knife, but right next to him the trap of the Hag showed her phantasm. 

And then she was there. 

With a loud hissing sound she attacked the black man with her big claw. Amanda was petrified. The Hag was so much smaller than this mountain of a man but without hesitation, she attacked him, bit him in his arm and tried to get on his throat. It didn’t take the Shape long to get her by her own neck. She wiggled in his strong grasp, gasping for air.  _ Do something, you useless girl! Do something!  _ She dipped the bottle in her hand deep into the toxin to fill it up. Her hand started to burn like fire. She pulled out and splashed all of the liquid right into the man’s white face. Myers dropped the Hag along with his knife and tried to rub the toxin away, slowly stumbling backwards. Without thinking, she pushed the Hag forward for an escape. Suddenly the Pig got grabbed by the shoulders and tackled down. Myers, still blinded, managed to turn her around under him and found her throat immediately. He started to strangle her with both hands. Amanda pulled at his arms and tried to kick his torso but he just tightened his grasp around her neck. She stared into the darkness of his eyeholes. Blood and dark liquid was dripping from them. 

Suddenly the Hag jumped onto his back and rammed her claw into it. He flinched back and tried to shook her off. Amanda crawled back and got up again. The Shape got a grip on one of the Hag’s thin arms and threw her in front of her, right into Amanda’s arms. She safely catched her. 

Myers stumbled backwards. He rubbed over his eyes once more. The Hag wiggled out of Amanda’s hold and lifted her paw, ready to go on. 

 

Myers stopped rubbing his eyes and stared at the unlike pair. He slowly picked up his knife. To Amanda’s surprise, he started to move backwards without dropping line of sight. He slowly faded in the fog and was gone. Amanda’s knees gave up once more she exhaled loudly. The Hag in front of her was still hissing in the direction Myers left. “He’s gone. Probably coming back, but for now we are save.” The haggard figure turned around and gave Amanda a weird look. In the next moment, she was already pulled back in the hide-out. The Hag made her sit in the same spot and showed her the pig’s head again. There were more braids, more insects and even more mud on it. Amanda covered her eyes with one hand and laughed. 

 

**

 

The pig thought about the fight over and over again. The Hag was so brave and without fear and never thought about running away. She had wanted to fight for her home. It was so stupid and yet so admirable. But Amanda was worried. What if Myers went back to the swamp? What would he do?  _ You are overthinking again. There is nothing you could do against that anyway.  _ Amanda got up from the mattress. She stared at the pig’s head on top of the desk, right next to the reverse bear trap. How ironic, she used to wear the one and now wears the other. Amanda lied back again and closed her eyes. 

 

The fog didn’t call her for a long time.

 

Shouldn’t she be happy about that? But what was this feeling of being unworthy? The Pig thought about all the killers she met. She hated the Trapper for obvious reasons. But she also had a deprecatingly against the Wraith and the Nurse. They helped her, of course, but they shared McMillan’s vision of her: Amanda was a little girl that needed others to survive. On top of that, Philip and Sally were lost in self-pity. “ _ You are like me.”  _ That’s what he said to her.  _ Am I, though? Do I want to be like him?  _

 

_ What _ **_do_ ** _ I want? _

 

It was hard to find an answer. Amanda rolled to the side and opened her eyes again. She looked right at the video tape she found at Autohaven Wreckers. She knew exactly what was on it, yet she desperately wanted to watch it again. There were a lot of cameras and screens at her place, but nothing she could have used to play the tape. She recalled another place with screens and television. The Memorial Institute.  _ That’s not  smart idea… But I’m a killer. I can do that. I don't need to be afraid of anyone! Just remember the Hag. Be like her. No crouching but being confident! _

 

**

 

It would’ve been a lie if said that she wasn’t afraid of the doctor. He looked monstrous, but in a different way than Evan. And if she thought about the things he could probably do to her…  _ STOP, Amanda. Stop degrading yourself. Remember, you are a killer as well! _

For the first time, the Pig took the obvious path to the campfire but thankfully nobody was around. She shoved her hands into her pockets. She had found one thing for him, a bunch of notes about an experiment. Hopefully it was enough.

 

The pig entered the Memorial Institute without hiding. It seemed like nobody was there so she raised her voice: “Doctor Herman Carter?”

Heavy footsteps echoed in the corridors of the institute.  _ It’s not too late to run away.  _ Amanda shook her head. 

The footsteps came closer and closer. Each step was accompanied with deep breaths. The doctor smacked his weapon in his thenar in the rhythm.

“Oh? What do we have here? A new patient?” He stopped walking and kept a respectful distance to her. She shook her head.

“My name is Amanda Young, the Pig. I need to use one of your televisions.”

The doctor giggled, amused by her request.

“And what will be my trade-off, Miss Young?”

The Pig pulled out the notes she found and stretched out her arm without saying a word. The mask hid her anxiety.

Herman Cater stepped closer and grabbed the paper in her hand. He scanned the lines and giggled again. “Aah, my old ECT experiment. Wonderful memories and interesting results.”

“Is it enough, Doctor Carter?”

“Yes, of course... Do what you have to do…” His eyes were fixed on the paper in his hands. The pig swallowed but walked away in one of the corridors. 

She remembered correctly. The old televisions had all a videocassette recorder attached to them. Carefully she placed the tape inside. She gasped slightly. It didn’t show the instructions that Jigsaw gave her, but it was a recording of the room she was trapped in. She saw herself strapped in the chair with the massive reverse bear trap on her head. It was hypnotizing. 

The Amanda in the video woke up and panicked. She tried to wiggle free but wasn’t able too. Shortly after, the television next to her showed the face of Jigsaw. There was no sound, but Amanda remembered the words clearly in her mind. After the instruction, her old self screamed and ripped the straps from her arms. When she stood up, the timer started. She began to struggle and tried to get the trap of while the timer ran short. Finally the girl spotted the body of her friend on the floor and a tiny knife next to him. There was a big question mark on his belly and she knew what she had to do. He wasn’t dead but the girl stabbed him multiple times. She digged her hands into his guts and finally found the saving key. The trial was over and she survived. The Jigsaw puppet drove into the room on his tricycle. 

 

His words echoed in Amandas head.  _ Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore. _

 

“Was that you?” The Pig turned on her heels, looking right into the doctors face.

“My old self. I’m not her anymore.”, she answered honestly.

“I see. What an interesting experiment. May i watch it again?” Amanda stepped aside and the doctor replayed it.

“Wonderful. Wonderful!” He clapped his hands. “The fear of death is such a strong power, don’t you think? It lets us do the most incredible things.”

“I will go now.” Amanda tried to pass the doctor, but he grabbed her roughly by her still burned hand. 

“Already? The gift you made to me is worth so much more. Don’t you want to learn more about this place and its strange residents? Come with me, Miss Young...”

‘No’ wasn’t an option.

 

Herman Carter dragged her into his office. There were a lot of bookshelves on the walls and a big, dark-brown desk in the middle. A bunch of papers accumulated there. He finally let her go and Amanda rubbed her hand softly. “What do you want to show me?”

“I have informations about every killer and survivor in this realm. I know their powers, their weaknesses and what they did right before the entity dragged them here.” The Pig actually was impressed, but tried not to give him too much attention and credit for it.

“I think the wraith told me enough about the others already.”

“Did he, though?” Carter sat down in his office chair and folded his arms.

“So you already know that he threw his boss in the crusher and let it compress?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. We are all killers.”

The doctor giggled.

“So you already know that the Nurse is the strongest of us all?”

“Sally?”

“Yes… She looks so fragile and innocent right? She killed a lot of people.. and she has the highest sacrifice rate.”

Amanda took a short pause before she spoke. “That’s in fact a surprise, but also not relevant to me.”

“Hmmm…” Carter got up again. He ignored the personal distance this time and was staying just a few centimeters in front of her. His eyes met the holes of her mask. 

“There is a lot of mud and insects in your hair. Did you visit Lisa?”

“Lisa?” This got her attention.

“Yes, the Hag. Lisa Sherwood.”

“Tell me about her.” 

The doctor laughed. “So you  _ are  _ curious, Miss Young.” He tried to touch a braid but Amanda smacked his hand away.

“You can speak without touching me, right?” Her voice didn’t crack this time and he lowered his hand again. Amanda was afraid of losing her mask once more. She was a mess under it: red face, shaky lips and short breaths.

“Sure…” The doctor still was staying close. “Lisa Sherwood grew up in a small village with old traditions and isolated from the rest of the civilization. She was just a teenager when the  _ bad thing  _ happened… She walked home one day and got caught in a heavy storm. She lost track, stumbled and struck her head against a rock. When she finally awoke, she was chained to a wall. Cannibals found her and tied her up to eat her slowly alive. Every day they cut meat from her legs and arms. Everything hurt and got infected. Without food and water her body shrunk and she was barely bones and skin in the end. Her arms got thin and so she was able to slip through the chains, but it didn’t matter anymore. Delirious, she thought about her home and remembered with her dying breath an old symbol from her elders. She etched the symbol into the floor. Her mind was full of one word: Vengeance. The entity answered her call and formed her into a Wendigo. She teared her kidnappers apart and became a servant to this world.”

Amanda was silent.  _ Lisa’s mind became degenerated until nothing but hate was left. What a horrible story. _

“My favorite tale so far…”, giggled Herman Carter in amusement.

“And what about you, doctor?”

“Me?” He tilted his head. “I’m innocent. Just a harmless doctor that tried to help...” He was laughing again. “Here, I show you.”

Without a warning, he grabbed the pig’s face and an electric jolt hit her body. Amanda screamed in pain but he didn’t let her go. She tried to grab his arm but got an electric shock instead. “You can  _ scream  _ without touching me, right?”, he laughed and sent another jolt through her body. Amanda cried again but wiggled out of her pig mask, flinching backwards. Her brown eyes met his yellow ones. She was terrified and he saw it. “I honestly was very surprised that you came to me, Miss Young. I thought the good old Evan maybe underestimated you.” He looked at the pig’s head in his hand. “But now I think he was right.” The doctor dropped the mask on the floor and flexed his right arm. Sparks shot from it. “You better start running, little piglet, before the butcher gets you.” He sent a jolt over the floor that nearly hit her. Amanda didn’t think twice and started to sprint away.

 

******

 

He hunted her for a long time. Amanda felt the madness in her rising, especially when he was nearby. She double checked the entrance but somehow the doors wouldn’t open anymore. And by the second time, he managed to hit her with his large, spiky stick. The blood-puddles on the floor always told him, where she was. This whole situation was ironic.  _ I need a way out. I MUST get out.  _ Amanda hid inside a shower cabin and cowered low. Her head throbbed painfully. It felt like it would explode anytime soon.

“Come here, little piggy.”, he whistled, “Where are you~”

For some reason, he passed without noticing her. Slowly Amanda crawled out of her hide-out into the corridor. She looked at the large windows and wondered, if she would be able to break them. The girl stood up and climbed onto one of the seats. She hammered her fists against the glass but they vibrated just slightly.  _ Come on. Come on!  _ She punched them again and her hands started to hurt. Amanda heard the footsteps of the doctor coming closer.

“COME ON!” With a scream and a brutal strike, the glass shattered. Amanda lost her balanced and fell over the edge out into the darkness. Pieces of glass penetrated her skin and she moaned. 

“There you are!” The doctor looked over the edge of the broken window. Amanda quickly collected herself and bolted into the dark forest. 

 

**

 

It didn’t matter how far she ran, she always heard his evil laughing behind here, slowly creeping closer and closer. She completely lost orientation but she never stopped to look around. After awhile, she caught her breath at a tree. Far in the distance she saw some strange lightning. It looked like one of the outside lamps of the meat plant! Amanda hasted forward. Her back hurt and she constantly moaned in pain. The light got closer and closer.

 

Maybe if she would have been more careful, she would’ve noticed.

 

A hand grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the side. The boogeyman easily smashed her to the ground and pinned her down with his hands on her neck. He squeezed and Amanda pressed her eyelids together. She struggled but he completely ignored it until she felt dizzy. Suddenly, his hands wandered higher. They rested for a short amount of time on her cheeks and her brown eyes stared at his white mask. His thumps slowly moved to her organ of sight and she closed them again, she begged for him to stop. Without any effort he pushed his thumps into her eye sockets until blood splattered out. A bloodcurdling scream filled the air. She pulled and kicked but he didn’t move at all. As soon as Amanda stopped wiggling, he softened his grasp. She whimpered pitiful on the ground.Myers opened the buttons of her red cape and forced her out of it. He roughly removed the blade from her arm as well, than he stood up, looking at the result: 

a scared teenager. 

The girl hold her eyes, shivered and cried in pain. The Shape pulled out his sharp knife. He grabbed the girl by her throat and lifted her up in the air. Than he rammed the knife into her ribcage. Amanda struggled a little bit by punching his arm with her fist. He took his knife out, just to push it back in even deeper. Amanda struggled for the last time and he threw her on the cold hard ground.


	7. Transition

“Hey… Hey! Wake up!” A familiar voice got to her ears and two hands shook her by the shoulders. “Amanda! You need to get up!”

The girl opened her eyes slowly and saw the face of Detective David Tapp. She inhaled quickly and wiggled out of his grip, instantly standing up.

“What…” She looked at her arms and touched her face. No Blades. No Mask.

“It’s alright, Amanda. I’m here for you. Don’t panic. I will explain everything to you. Come with me.” There was another guy next to Detective Tapp. It was the black haired boy with the green jacket. David tried to softly grab her arm but she flinched back. 

“No… this is not right, this can’t be!”, she yelled at him.

“I know, Amanda. I know how this looks like, I’m sorry that I can’t logically explain this to you. But you need to stay calm.”

The girl was hyperventilating but Tapp tried to reach out for her once more. She twitched a little bit. 

“Everything will be fine. Come with me. It’s alright.” His voice was calm but steady. 

 

_ What does this mean?! _

 

**

 

“David, Jake!” A guy with glasses stood up from the campfire as soon as the group arrived there. Amanda’s head was low and the black hair covered her face. She was clutching Tapps arm. By the time they had walked back, Amanda changed from being very agitatedly to a quiet but still shocked state.

“Dwight.”, said the Detective and nodded, “That’s Amanda Young. I met her before, in the real world.” The girl next to him didn’t say word.

“Please, sit down with us, Amanda.”

“Do you want to explain everything?”, asked Dwight the detective and he nodded. Jake also sat down and began to poke into the fire with a small twig.

“I know it sounds crazy but… this isn’t the real world, Amanda. I can’t tell you what exactly it is and if we are dead or alive, but all this has nothing to do with the life you know.” Amanda stared into the flames and said nothing.

“This place is ruled by something called  _ the Entity.  _ You could say it’s a god, if you think of all the stuff it can do. The Entity brought you here. All of us.”

David took a break and watched Amanda’s face, but it was without any emotions.

“Sometimes four of us get chosen for… a game. A really macabre game. If you are one of them, you will be transferred to a different place and your job is it to do generators. There are seven of them, you need to repair five to activate the two exit gates. As soon as one of the exit gate is open, you can leave the realm.”

“A game you say…”, repeated Amanda monotonous. 

“Yes. A game needs an opponent. In our case, it’s a killer. There is just one in every round, but like we are more than four survivors in this world, there exists more than killers as well. And every one of them is brutal and without mercy.”

“Killers…”, she whispered.

“I’m not sure about their passel, but everyone of them has an unique and deadly power.”

“They try to stop you from doing gens.”, Amanda reasoned. 

“That’s right. They chase you, down you, put you on a hook and if you hang too long, you will get sacrificed. And let me tell you one thing, it hurts like hell.”

Amanda remained quiet again.

David looked at Dwight and he shrugged his shoulders. This girl stayed surprisingly calm and on top of that, she seemed to believe them.

David decided to ask directly: “What do you think, Amanda?”

She turned her head towards him. Tapp could see that she struggled with finding words. “It sounds crazy and surreal.”, she started slowly, “but on the other hand, I’m pretty sure I should be dead. And I know for a fact that you died, detective.”

“What happened to you?”

Amanda remembered the clinic. John gave her a last chance but she was too envious and angry to take it. A shotgun killed her in the end. David had no idea, that she worked for John Kramer and she had to keep it for herself.

“I had to do another test with others, but failed.”

David lowered his head. “I’m sorry, that I wasn’t able to catch this maniac. If I would have, we both would not be here.”

Amanda swallowed and lickted her lips. “Not your fault.”

Everyone remained silent until a couple of footsteps came closer to the campfire.

“Hey guys, we found some useful stuff!” A girl with red, braided hair and a dark skinned one with brown hair and glasses arrived. They carried a toolbox and three medkits. David waved his arm as a greeting.

“Amanda, these two girls are Meg and Claudette.” He pointed his finger to them.

“Meg and Claudette, this is Amanda.”

“A new kid, eh?” The ginger gave her a smile.

“Don’t worry, we will all help you out”, said Claudette softly. Amanda nodded her head.

“Who’s in a game right now?”, asked Dwight the ginger.

“Laurie, Ace, Big-David and Quentin. It’s been a while, they probably will be back any time soon.”

“Stop naming him Big-David.”, said the detective with a dunning face.

“How should I differ you two then?”

“Excuse me.”, Amanda stood up but kept her head low while talking, “I think I want to be alone for a moment.”

“Understandable. Take your time but please stay nearby.”, said Tapp. She gave him a light nod and left the group.

“So, David”, Meg sat right next to him, “you know her?”

 

**

 

The girl listened to the detective and sat down on a log about twenty meters away from the fire. She tried to remember what happened.  _ I got chased by the doctor… He still has my mask.  _ She looked up into the night sky.  _ I was on my way back to the meat plant and then... _ A wave of realisation hit her. She touched her face once more, especially her eyes. She looked down at her torso but it was completely fine and without any stab wounds. She realized that she just wore her blue jeans and a red shirt. Amanda buried her face in her hands.  _ I was so stupid. Why did I thought it was a good idea to go to the institute in the first place? Just to watch a damn video tape.  _ She ground her teeth. The Shape tried to kill her but, like everyone else, she couldn't die. And now she is here.  _ Am I a survivor now? Will the fog call me and I will take part of the game again, but at the other side? That’s impossible. I’m a killer. I’m a killer!  _ The girl roughly bit her lip and pressed her eyelids together.  _ I’m a killer! I’m a killer!  _

 

“Don’t worry, you will get used to this place. Uuuhm, kinda.” The girl looked up. In front of her stood a tall but skinny man with sunglasses and a cap. He smiled charmingly. “The name’s Ace. Ace Visconti. I’m the lucky charm of the group.” 

The girl raised one brow. ”The lucky charm?” She tried to calm her voice but still sounded angry.

“Yeah, you heard right, girl. When I’m with you, nothing will go wrong.” He sat down right in front of her. Amanda knew exactly who he was and she knew he wasn’t lying. That Fortuna fortuna favored him was not an understatement. But maybe it was just when he had to face her. Who knows how lucky and charming he really was against others. Amanda tried to play along.

“Is that so?” She crossed her legs.

“Our very own police officer said, you want to be left alone but I gave it a try anyway. I can leave, if you want. Or we could play cards. Just to kill time.”

“I…I think i want to be alone…”

“Alright.” He buried his hands in his pockets. “But you owe me a game now.” He smiled and wanted to leave.

“Wait a second.”

“Changed your mind?”

The girl shook her head and  looked him directly into the eyes. “Tell me, is this all just a bad dream? Am I dreaming?”

Ace broke the eye contact by turning around. “Who knows? It doesn’t matter. We’re trapped.”


	8. A Guide to Survive

Amanda’s first trial was at the Coldwind Farm. The corn field was large and in the middle of the realm was the shack with the basement. This version of the farm had always been a good one for her. The large corn had covered her completely and had allowed her really successful surprise attacks. But now the tables have turned. Amanda didn’t left her spawning spot for quite a time.  _ What if the killer is the Trapper? Or Philip? Even Sally? What should I do or what should I say?  _ Her face got red out of anger and shame when she thought about McMillans triumphal evil grin. Suddenly she heard a chainsaw and couldn’t help but let out an eased exhalation. She never met one of the hillbillies before and on top of that, they never communicated with others. Her ‘little problem’ was safe for this trial. The girl finally decided to go into the field. As a survivor, you had to do generators, right? She spotted one in the corn and it was already humming a little bit. The redhead was working on it and seemed to be focussed. 

“So how do I do this?” 

“Jesus Chri-” The generator blow up and Meg touched her chest, looking scared but also relieved.

“Amanda? For a moment I thought you were the killer.”, she said, “I think we are good for the moment. I saw Nea earlier with Leatherface right behind her. She’s a good juker.” 

“I’m sorry. Meg was it, right?” The black haired girl looked at the generator, “Can you help me out?”

“Of course. Come closer, I’ll show you.” Amanda squatted right next to the redhead. 

“There are a lot of wires in here, they have different colors. You have to match the right wire with the right connection. The connections have different colors as well. It can be hard to differ between colors of the same shade, but you will get used to it.”

‘“That’s not how generators work in the real world.”

“I know, but it doesn’t matter. This isn’t the real world anyway.” Meg gave her a sad smile. “Alright, let’s start.”

 

Amanda got really lucky. When the Cannibal hooked the girl named Nea, Meg directed his attention to herself, so she had time to help the girl off the hook.  _ This is so ridiculous…  _ The girl stayed covered in the corn and finally arrived at the hook. Nea had her eyes closed and was whimpering a little bit. As soon as she stood right in front of her, she opened her eyes. 

“Get me off, quick!”, she whined. Amanda carefully placed her hands under her shoulders and lifted the girl off. She was way lighter than she expected her to be. 

“Thanks. Come now.” Nea grabbed her hand and pulled Amanda with her. She was holding her shoulder at the same time.

“I dropped my medkit around here… there it is!” The girl grabbed the kit without letting her hand go. She now pulled her to a T-shaped wall.

“I need you to help me. It takes too long to do it myself.” She gave her the medkit. Inside were some white bandages and band-aids. Nea carefully got one arm out of her top. The wound was deep red and blood dripped to the ground. 

“Could you bandage my wound?”

Amanda did what she asked for and Nea was whimpering a little bit in the progress.

 A gen popped in the distance.

“Thank god it’s only an injury on my shoulder. But killers can hurt you pretty much everywhere. The good thing is, we are way more robust and have better endurance than in the real world. You will feel the adrenaline in your veins even though you may think you can’t move. On the other hand, it also means more pain and more blood. It’s easier to track a badly injured survivor, so don’t get caught too often.” 

Amanda gave her a slight nod. “And how did he get you?”

“I tried to sneak into a locker and then he grabbed me. Never again.”

Suddenly they heard his chainsaw and a high pitched scream.

“Meg is down. I’ll try to help her. Try to find Dwight and do with him the next generator.

Before Amanda could say anything, the girl sprinted away.  _ She is still injured and just ran off. Are theses guys even afraid of anything? _

The girl did what she was told to and sneaked through the field to find the generator Dwight was working on. When Amanda crouched closer to the machine, she heard light crying.

“I’m over here.”, said a shaky voice. The boy was hurt on his head. His glasses were broke and there was a big bruise on his temple. He also bled a little bit. Amanda started to work on the generator.

“Shit!” The gen had a short circuit, but it was Dwight’s fault. “My head hurts like hell. I can’t see properly.”

“Don’t worry. let me do the work and try to collect yourself.” He nodded and sat down on the ground, holding his head.

_ Why am I so determined about this…  _ Her thoughts started to wander.  _ I guess it’s the only thing I can do for now. Getting out without getting hurt.  _

“I’m surprised how calm you stay, Amanda”, began Dwight to talk, “but I guess you are kind of used to macabre games, right?”

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so.”

The generator was nearly done, but suddenly, they heard the sound of a chainsaw coming closer.

“We need to leave.”, said Amanda and looked at Dwight, but he still sat on the ground.

“I feel dizzy and everything is blurry...” He hold his head, “hide and wait for him to get me. Than finish the generator.”

But it was already too late. The cannibal let out a grunt and revved his chainsaw. This was the first time she was seeing him and he looked as terrifying as clumsy, with his mask made out of skin and the big belly hidden under the yellow apron. And so she did, what she always had done: running away. Leatherface just barely missed her with his attack. While sprinting, the girl tried to remember all the things survivors had done, when she had hunted them. They had blocked her way with pallets or vaulted over windows.  _ I need to buy time. That’s the purpose.  _ Finally she saw a pallet between some hayballs. She dropped it as soon as she reached it.  _ What will he do?  _ She looked behind but the cannibal wasn’t there anymore, but already at the edge of the hayball.  _ He simply moved around!  _ Amanda tried to slide back to the other side, but Leatherface smacked her with his sledge. She howled. The Cannibal happily revved his chainsaw and destroyed the pallet with it. The girl ran into the cornfield, hoping she could lose him there. She couldn’t feel her right arm anymore, he probably hit a nerve. 

It didn’t seem like he would lose her anytime by now and Amanda started to panic. She sprinted to the shack, but the pallet there was already gone. The girl tried to take the window but without her right arm it took too long. Leatherface grabbed her by her jeans and pulled her back. She struggled and screamed but he managed to get an arm around her waist, carrying her into the basement. He didn’t mind the wiggling at all.

“No.. no, no, no, STOP!”

He  lifted her up and placed her on the meathook. The tip drilled through her shoulder and she screamed loudly. Leatherface enjoyed himself. He lifted his chainsaw and made happy grunting sounds, still watching her struggling. Amanda tried to grab the hook to lifting herself up a little bit, but it was impossible. This was hell. The pain was similar to what she had experienced when she failed in a trial as killer and it did make sense. Both sides had their rules, winning conditions and punishments. Amanda closed her eyes and hold her body steady so it wouldn’t hurt that much anymore but the Cannibal was still strangely fascinated by her. He cocked his head to one side, than to the other. 

Then he came closer. She opened her eyes again, just a little bit, to see what he was doing. He reached out to her with one bulky hand and tried to touch her.

Amanda didn’t know what she was thinking, but she kicked him so hard in the face that he actually stumbled backwards. He dropped his chainsaw and hold his bleeding nose, grunting and squeaking. She couldn’t help but laugh faintly. 

 

They weren’t able to get her out. They did the last generator and opened the door but the killer still guarded the basement until the Entity finally accepted the sacrifice.

 

***

 

When Dwight, Nea und Meg arrived at the campfire, David Tapp was already waiting for them.

“Sorry, detective.”, said Dwight and looked a little bit embarrassed while rubbing his neck, “we couldn’t save her.”

“This damn ugly-face guarded the basement like a dog. I have no idea why. He didn’t even try to chase someone else.”, added Nea while she sat down at the campfire, “Such a shame. She did really, really well for her first time.”

Tapp sighted a little bit. Hopefully she didn’t became too scared after such a trial. Dwight took place next to Nea and steered into the flames. “It’s my fault. I hadn’t felt well and that’s why she had picked up a chase.”

“Jesus Christ, guys, stop wrapping her in cotton wool! She will get used to it, just like everybody else.”, interrupted a muscular man with a strong accent. He was leaning against a tree. 

“David is right. We will support her but she has to survive on her own. She will get used to it, we all did.”, it was the oldest man in the group who was speaking now, “and now sit down again.”

“She’s coming back.”, said a blonde girl who was sitting next to a sleepy looking boy with a beanie.

“Amanda!” Detective Tapp instantly moved towards her.

“Idiot.”, mumbled David to himself and crossed his arms.

 

Amanda had her head low. She felt completely exhausted and empty but her long hair hid an almost evil grin in her face. Detective Tapp softly touched her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’re done for now.” She didn’t react.

The police officer brought her to the campfire and offered the girl a place right next to him. “Did something happen in the trial?”

The black haired girl lifted her head a little bit and looked in his eyes. She smiled. “I kicked him in the face.”

Nobody said a word but everybody was listening to her by now. Since she didn’t continue, Meg asked again: “You did what?”

“I kicked him in the face. He hooked me and then tried to touch me, so i defended myself.” The silence got interrupted by loud laughing. It was David.

“You heard that, officer? You wanted to be soft and slow with her but she already kicked a killer in the face. I can’t believe it!” The man walked over to her.

“Great move, girl. I’m the cooler David, by the way.” He gave her a big smile and earned a glance from the detective.

“Thank you-”

“Don’t encourage her! It was a stupid thing to do and especially  **you** should know that.”

“Do I? Before you begged me to stop. I had at least some fun in this fucking trials. Now I have to  **shit my pants** like you fuckers!”

“Did you already forgot what the Trapper did to you everytime we faced him?”

“And don’t forget the Doctor.”, added Meg now.

“ **Exceptions.** ”, underlined David angrily.

“Really? He basically ripped you apart, was that an “exception” too?” The detective tried to control his anger.

“At least he tried to do something different.” interfered Nea.

Some others joined this argumentation, some stayed quiet and rolled their eyes. Amanda didn’t want to be in the middle of that and so she stood up. She noticed that nobody was staring at her anymore but at the loud conversation.

“Hey, come with me.” Ace grabbed her softly by her wrist and smiled. She sighted and followed him.

They sat down again some meters away from the fire. You could still hear the discussion, but it wasn’t more than white noise. 

“We are a really special group. You’ll love us.” Amanda couldn’t tell if he was serious.

“What did David do? He pissed of the Trapper?”

“Long story short: When he was new here, he tried to solve our “problems” with violence. Needless to say that killers are way stronger than we are. So in his first or second trial, he tackled the Trapper. You know, the Trapper is a really scary looking man. Twice the size as David. It actually took him by surprise and he dropped the girl he had on his shoulders, I think it was Feng Min. But since then, the Trapper gave him a lot of attention for a long time. David tried to be cocky against other killers too. The the results were good in the moment it happened, but the long-term effect was negative for all of us. When Detective Tapp arrived, he wanted David to change this attitude and he finally did.” Ace flipped some cards in his hand. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s just hiding his insecurity with being badass and dumb.” Amanda tried to remember games against this man. She couldn’t recall any problem with him.

“And he tried to fight back against every killer?”

“No… just the big ones I’d say.”

“But why?”

“I have no idea. Ask him yourself. Uhm, better don’t. He probably doesn’t want to talk. Rummy?”

She was surprised by the sudden change of topic, but nodded. Ace gave himself and her 12 cards.

“Do you play with every new guy cards?”

Ace laughed slightly. “I guess I want to be nice. It detracts from reality.”

After they made some moves, Amanda picked up the word again. “Tell me about yourself, Ace. What did you do before… this?”

“Nothing special, you know. I had always a talent for gambling and actually could live from that.”

“Like professional poker?” 

He smiled. “Kinda.”

“Were you happy?”

He leaned back and looked her in her brown eyes. “If happiness means to wake up next to beautiful girls, living in a big apartment and making your hobby to your job, then yes.”

“So you had no worries.”

“Uhm, maybe I had some minor depts with people, nothing wild.”

 

“TAKE THAT BACK!” Ace and Amanda looked to the campfire. David was grabbing the detective by the scruff of his neck. He looked really angry. The gambler laughed a little.

“It’s always the same. Everyone is like ‘Oh, we need to work together, we need to be best friends so we survive this hell’ but the truth is, we are too different. You can make friends, sure, but probably not with anyone.” He looked back to Amanda. “Personal problems should stay outside when you get called for a game. That’s the only thing you need to stick with.”

“I guess that makes sense. Your turn.”

Ace melded Club one to six and added a Heart seven to Amanda’s street.

“I would ask something about you, but actually Tapp told us a lot already.”

“Like what?”

“That you were a victim in the Jigsaw-case. The first survivor. That you are brave and strong and bla bla bla, that kind of stuff.”

“I actually barely know him. He witnessed my interrogation, that’s all.”

“And how do you feel about The Pig?”

Amanda froze in her movement.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you? One of the Jigsaw-servants is a killer in this lovely world.” Ace watched her reaction closely. She swallowed.

“Who is it? Do you know that?”

“Tapp had a theory but since the killer is female, it got disproved.  Maybe you have an idea?”

The girl shook her head.

“I don’t even remember how i got kidnapped.”

There was a long moment of silence, until Ace picked up the word again.

“There is something else I wondered since he talked about the Jigsaw-case.”

“What is it?”

“This maniac kidnapped people who didn’t value life, correct?”

Amanda looked him straight into the eyes.

“What do you want to say with that?”

Ace shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing, I just wondered.”

Ace drew a card and smiled. He melded a Heart King, Queen and Jack and discarded his last card to the pile.

“I won.”

Amanda stood up.

“No revenge?”

“No thanks.”, she said quickly while turning around. His presence and his question made her uncomfortable. It felt like he  _ knew _ . The girl saw two others moving away from the campfire heading towards the woods. She wanted to follow them, ask them where they were going, but decided against it. It was already hard enough to get used to all the new faces and names, she didn’t want to start a new discussion with anybody. She could explore the woods on her own- which was better anyway. Unfortunately, that got not unnoticed by someone else.

“Amanda.” The girl turned around and looked in the face of the boy with the green jacket. “Jake?”

He nodded. “I understand the urge to get away from this loud place too well, but you shouldn’t go into the woods by yourself.”

“Why, is there something in the forest more scary and dangerous than killers?”, said Amanda sarcastically, but the boy just shook his head. “There is nothing in there.”

“So what is the problem then?”

“The Nothing.”

“The Nothing?” She lifted an eyebrow.

Jake sighted a little, obviously trying to find words.

“Were you ever in an empty room by yourself without any visual or auditory cues? This forest is just like that. There are no birds, no animals. You can’t hear the wind in the trees. You can’t see the sky. All you can hear is your own breathing and heartbeat.” He paused again and licked his lips. “You will simply lose your mind if you go alone.”

Her eyes wandered to the forest. “But I saw two people going in there. What about them?”

“Laurie and Quentin. They search the forest for ruins. You can find useful stuff in them, but like I said, you shouldn’t go alone. The ruins never stay where they are.”

“What kind of ruins are we talking about?”

“Basically destroyed versions of buildings you can find in a trial.”

“I see... So you want to come with me?.” He shook his head. “No, I just wanted you to know.”, he said and left her alone again.

She looked at the campfire. The situation seemed to be better now. David was leaning against a tree again and the detective sat on the ground. Herself was still standing on the edge of the forest, its present just in the back of her was actually calming. Amanda sat down. The adrenaline of the trial was gone, the anger she felt because of Ace too.

_ Don’t do this, don’t do that. Don’t go there, stay around and wait for the next torture. Great. _

It felt like a downgrade to be here with other survivors. But was it really? Wasn’t this just the other side of the same coin?  _ Maybe I _ **_am_ ** _ a better survivor than killer. It’s more fitting anyway, isn’t it?  _ Amanda tucked her legs, hugged them and placed her chin on her knees. 

 

_ But why does it feel like I’m disappointing someone? _

 

She closed her eyes. The sound of the flickering fire and the conversation of the others seemed far away. She could hear her own heartbeat. Amanda took a deep breath. 

 

The forest wasn’t empty, she could feel a present moving between the trees. It was weak, but it was definitely there and it whispered words she couldn’t understand. It wasn’t calling for her, just talking. For some reason it touched her soul and filled her body with warmness.  _ I’m not lost. Not yet. _

 


	9. Mixed Emotions

While waiting for another trial, Amanda avoided to talk to anybody. She instead prepared her mind for the next killer, actually hoping it was someone familiar, like Philip. If it was him, she could ask him if he knew what happened or how she could become a killer again. But how to approach a killer without the others noticing? She needed to be careful.

The fog called her along with Feng, Ace and Laurie. She found herself in a dark forest without any building around, there was just a big old tree in the middle and the shack in a corner. This time, Amanda instantly moved and searched for a generator. She found one,but was alone. The girl started to work on it anyway.

 

It was quiet for a long time and her generator was already humming, when she suddenly felt a presence coming closer. Amanda looked around. Was there some kind of shimmer in the air or was it just her imagination? She stopped working on the generator and stared into the woods. There was something and it came closer. Bells echoed in the air and the Wraith uncloaked himself in front of her. The girl just stood there, ready to say something, but as soon as he was visible, he swung his weapon and hit her on her head merciless. Amanda screamed in pain and stumbled backwards, nearly falling on the ground. He wiped of the blood of his weapon with his thumb and the girl finally started run. The Wraith cloaked himself again and got on her track. The girl reached a pallet in some ruins, but now she waited to see was the killer did, instead of dropping it instantly. She heard the bells again, not sure from which direction, so she safely dropped the pallet in front of her. She twitched when his spine-weapon hit the wood.

“Just tell me what happened and why!”, she screamed at him. The Wraith didn’t say anything and broke the pallet. Amanda started to run again, the sound of the bells in her back. Her head pounded like hell and she wasn’t sure if he was still following her. Amanda vaulted a window slowly.and catched her breath. Was she really save? Just some feet away from her got a generator finished. She saw Feng leaving the finished generator and hurried to her. The asian girl looked over, but instead of approaching, she stared at something behind Amanda, spun around and bolted away. The Wraith uncloaked himself behind the girl and before she even could react, his weapon hit her once more. The sudden force at her own spice let her stumble forward and this time she couldn’t hold her balance and felt to the ground. The Wraith grabbed her by the trouser waistband and lifted her up, carrying her to the nearest hook. She bit her lip to kill every sound that wanted to leave her mouth when the tip drilled through her shoulder. The Wraith stood in front of her for just a moment, until he cloaked and left. The girl closed her eyes. What did she expected? That he would not hit her? Talk to her? This was not coffee party! The girl felt the anger rising in her body.  _ He could’ve said something at least…  _ Suddenly, a soft whisper got to hear ear. It was the same as the one she heard in the forest. It was warm, soft and wanted her to listen carefully. But before Amanda could hear what the voice had to say, she got lifted off the hook and looked into the familiar face of the gambler. He didn’t say anything, but cocked his head to his left side shortly. A sign that she should follow him. Amanda didn’t realize that there were already two generators done. Ace stopped at a tree near the shack and looked around. He crouched and picked up some dark green leaves from a small bush. 

“Lower yourself and hold still.”, he said with a quiet voice. She did what he said and Ace softly pressed some of the leaves at her wound on her forehead. It burned a little bit.

“Some bandages would be more useful, but this will do the trick for now. It stops the bleeding.”

“How do you know that?”

“Claudette showed us. She knows a lot about plants and stuff. Now hold this for a while and I’ll cover your shoulder and spine.” Amanda nodded slightly and placed her hand where his had been before. He took again some leaves and pressed them on the back and front of her shoulder wound. 

“Heh, like a leave-sandwich.” He chuckled but just earned an incomprehensible look.

“You can remove the ones from your head now.” Amanda dropped the leaves on the ground. They were bloody, but they really helped.

“Can you hold the ones on your shoulder as well?” She nodded again and covered them with her hand and arm. Ace pressed the last leaves at the injury on her back.

“Thank you.”, she mumbled.

“What did you scream at the killer before?” The girl instantly felt caught.  _ Is he trying to trick me or didn’t he really hear any words? _

“Ha… I feel stupid now.”, she fake-laughed slightly, “I wanted to know why he does this to me. I guess I spoke out of affect? I don’t know. How embarrassing...”

“I guess everyone tries to get along with the situation in his own way, right? Just don’t get used to it.” Ace dropped the leaves. “I think we’re done.”

Amanda stood up and removed the greens from her shoulder. The pain wasn’t gone completely, but she definitely felt better now. 

“Wait, you still have something on your head.”

He suddenly was very close. Ace slowly lifted up his hand and carefully picked the remains from her forehead. He smiled charmingly. “There we go.” There was nothing she could’ve done against her red face in this moment.

Ace stepped back and cleared his throat. “We should split up for now. I saw a chest in the shack, maybe you can find something useful in it.”

Amanda still was slightly perplex until he left.  _ What was that... _ She made her way to the shack and found the box he was talking about. Honestly, she always wanted to open one of these by herself, but there was no time and no need to do so as a killer. The girl opened the chest, which was filled with some kind of styrofoam and pieces of fabric.  She stuck her hand in hit, tried to feel an item in there and pulled out a oblong object.  _ A flashlight?  _ Whenever someone had been in her trial with a flashlight, it never had ended good for him, but it rarely happened. What was the use of one of these except making yourself a target? Amanda took the flashlight with her anyway. She wanted to leave the shack, when suddenly Feng let out a scream, not far away from her position. She crouched down and looked over the window of the shack. She saw how the Wraith picked the girl up and carried her in her direction.  _ Shit!  _ Amanda tried to think fast. She saw the basement stairs.  _ Bad idea.  _ She did it anyway. The girl moved downstairs and got into one of the front lockers. Like she guessed correctly, the killer carried Feng into the basement and hooked her. He didn’t leave it immediately, but looked around a second. Then he cloaked himself and she heard his footsteps moving upstairs again. Amanda waited another moment before she left the locker. Feng looked surprised and relieved and she gave her a light smile. Carefully Amanda unhooked her. Now it was time to leave as soon as possible. Feng stayed behind her while they tried to go out of the cellar. 

The air was shimmering again on top of the staircase.  _ He knew!  _ They heard the sound of the bells and her blood ran cold. Similar to what happened against Leatherface, Amanda didn’t think twice but acted out of affect. She pointed the flashlight in his direction, aimed for his invisible head and clicked it on. The Wraith let out an eldritch howl. His skin seemed to burn and he stumbled backwards. 

“RUN!”, she screamed and they both bolted out of the shack. Feng didn’t follow her, but chose another direction. Maybe it was smart to split up, maybe not, she couldn’t tell. The adrenaline rushed through her veins and she heard her blood whooshing in her ear. Her feet carried her far far away and she finally stopped when she was out of breath. Crows flew out in the sky next to her, while she was collecting herself. Suddenly the sound of bells were in the air again. The Wraith uncloaked and Amanda had to run again.

 

***

 

“She died?”

“Yeah. She’s really brave but that’s what got her killed again. Laurie really tried to get her out but the Wraith was obsessed with her.”

“I wonder how she figured out how to burn him in the first place.”

“Am I the only one who thinks that it was dumb?”

“Didn’t you listen to Feng? The would’ve probably both died in the basement!”

It was a hell of a discussion around the campfire and Amanda couldn’t believe that she started it without saying a word. They became silent when they noticed her arrival. David Tapp already had this special look on his face and she turned away from the others, trying to get some distance. It didn’t hindered the detective to follow her.

“Amanda, wait.”, he said and she stopped,  but didn’t turn around.

“If you just want to talk to me to say that I did a dumb thi-”

“Just listen for a second, okay?”, he interrupted her.  She sighted but they both sat down next to each other. David had a worried face.

“You are not dumb, the opposite is the case. And you are tough.”, he made a brief pause, “Do you know why I asked the other David to stop being so aggressive towards the killers?”

“Because he made the situation more difficult for others?”

“That’s half-true.” The detective rubbed his neck, struggling to find the right words.

“He would’ve shattered.”

The girl turned his head to the man, waiting.

“David is a tough guy, that’s not a question. He doesn’t go down so easily, he is stronger than you and me and his nature is to be out there fighting not crouching behind trees and rocks. But he is a broken man. The wounds on your body heal every time. But the injuries on your soul… His eyes became so empty after a while, you know..”

“So you told him he should stop because of the others. To not hurt is ego.”

“Basically, yeah. Just don’t tell him.”

Amanda laughed a little. “Your duty never stops, doesn’t it?”

He replied with a smile. “That’s my own nature. Anyway…”, he cleared his throat, “You do great. But it wouldn’t be amiss if you think about yourself here and there and not only about the others.”

“What do you mean?”

“Two trials and two sacrifices because you protected someone else? It’s noble, but don’t overdo it. Think about the damage on your soul.”

She didn’t reply anything but looked to the ground.

“I guess you want to be alone again.” He stood up.

“Wait, detective”, Amanda got also up, “I heard about ruins in the forest. But Jake told me to not go alone.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“It would be an honor.”

 

***

 

It was exactly like Jake had told her before: The forest was silent and dark. It was kind of an relieve to have the detective next to her side, but it also worried her. Amanda couldn’t understand her own behaviour. She helped others, made herself a target and now she invited the man who wanted to stop John for a walk to the ruins. If they both would be in the real world, if they would’ve both survived, they would be enemies. And if whatever-the-hell-happened to her didn’t happen, they would be enemies in this world too! It was ridiculous. 

“Ruins could be anywhere and they are always changing. Sometimes we search for hours and don’t find anything, sometimes we’re five minutes in and are already there.”, he explained to her and looked around.

“What exactly did Jake tell you about the forest?”, he asked her now.

“Just that it messes with your head because of how silent and empty it is.”

“That’s true. But it’s not only that. If you are into the woods alone for too long, you start to hallucinate.”

“I think I read something about that. Your brain tries to simulate cues for itself so it has something to do.”

“It’s kinda like that, yes. But the thing is, what you see is not random and not a product of your brain. Not completely..”

The detective stopped and turned around to her.

“I was on my own one time, because Bill got called for a trial and vanished. I saw Stepehen Sing wandering between the trees and I immediately ran after him. He walked into a booby trap and died in an explosion. It was horrible to watch. When I turned around, he was there again, wandering again, falling for the trapp again. I started to run away but it didn’t matter where I went, I saw him dying over and over again. I screamed, tried to get in his way, but he was just an illusion.”, he paused for a moment and swallowed, “I think somehow the forest knows your deepest fear or deepest guilt, i don’t know. Just be prepared.”

Amanda remained silent, not knowing what to say.

“Anyway”, he continued, “I didn’t want to scare you or get you into a bad mood, I’m sorry.”, he smiled at her. David suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I think I’ve seen something over there.” 

He headed forward and the girl followed him.

“Oh.” 

They both froze.

The ruin was an outline of a room. Two walls were still up, one was broken in half and one was completely down. There was nothing else but a burned figure on a chair with a Reverse Bear Trap on his head.

Amanda was hypnotized from the scene in front of her.

“Detective. Why did you never told me about the Jigsaw-Killer in this world?”, she said with a monotone voice.

“You already know?”, he sighted a little, “I think I didn’t know how to say it.” The girl stepped a little closer to the burned man in the chair, not letting her eyes of him.

“Quentin and Laurie have a special relationship to a killer as well. And they both suffer because of it.”

“I never met my kidnapper in person.”, she lied to him.

“I know, I know. Honestly, I didn’t told you because I think this killer is not around anymore.” She widened her eyes but didn’t turn around. 

“You think so?”

“It’s been a long time since we faced her. The Pig.” Amanda took a deep breath. Her forearm was itching like hell, right where her blade had always been. Anger and hate came to the boil inside her and she couldn’t really tell what caused it. She reached out to the trap on the dead man’s head. Feeling the cold metal under her fingertips sent her shivers down her spine. It felt good. She softly ran her fingers over the hinges. 

“Amanda?” 

She grabbed something and turned around quickly. The detective took a step back out of surprise, suddenly feeling stressed.

“I found something”, she said and smiled like nothing happened. The girl had a key in her hand. David was relieved but still nervous.

“A key is really rare. You can open the hatch with it and escape.”

“The hatch?”, she asked acting unknowledgeable.

“I will explain it to you on our way back. But for now…”, He scanned the ruin, “There, look at this.” He pointed to something small in a corner. On the ground lied three puzzle pieces.

“Not every ruin has items, but an offering for its realm. If you burn a puzzle piece in the fire for example, you have a higher chance to get to the Meat Plant in your next trial.” The detective picked them up and gave Amanda two of them.

“An offering?” This time her ignorance wasn’t acted.  _ I think i missed something essential as a killer... _

“The only influence we have in here. And now let’s go back, this place is giving me chills.”


	10. Ulterior Motive

Some time passed by and Amanda felt stuck in where she was. She got lucky, really, no Meyers, no Trapper, no Doctor. But this would not be the case forever and she was pretty sure these three killers already knew about her special situation and couldn’t wait for their turn. Also, her relationship with the other survivors didn’t change at all. It was easy to talk with the detective and confusing and nerve-racking when she spoke to Ace, but that’s it. David Tapp often invited her to sit with the others and she always did, but she was never able to start a conversation with someone else. It was a lie to say that she didn’t feel lonely between the others, which was strange, because she never felt that way before as a killer.

While she never talked to anybody else, she began to observe them  instead. Dwight, Meg, Claudette and Jake were the first four that woke up here. They were not really teens anymore, but young adults, younger than her. Even if Jake was not with them most of the time, you could clearly see a strong dynamic between these four. When they were called, they always could count on each other. Nea and Feng got along with them as well, but also liked to be on their own. They were also rebellious in her own way. Laurie and Quentin were the ones with the special relationship to a killer and you could see that on their face every time. They were anxious about meeting their worst enemies whenever they entered a realm. Maybe that was the reason why these two stuck together and also rarely talk to others. Amanda figured out that Laurie was related to the Shape, Michael Myers. And Quentin knew Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare. When the Wraith had told her about all the killers in this world, he had barely any informations about these two, which was the reason why Amanda wanted to talk with these survivors. Another interesting observation was the behaviour of David. He seemed restless all the time, wandering around the campfire or between people, always got into talks but never stayed long. She thought about what Tapp said about this man. That he had a broken soul. Maybe that’s why he was like that?

The girl also saw the detective often talking to a guy named William, or short, Bill. He had a rather confusing backstory and it involved some strange stories about zombies. It was hard to believe, but that what she would’ve said about this realm as well, so who knew? Bill was a quiet but smart old guy, a veteran. It was no surprise that he and the detective got along so well. 

In conclusion, most of them were pretty young adults, the others were just a bunch of older men. And then there was Amanda, somewhere in between. Maybe that was the reason why Ace talked to her in such a strange way? She couldn’t figure out what he actually wanted. He slightly flirted with her, but at the same time he asked her stuff about her past and about her trials like it was an interrogation. What kind of interest did he have? This man’s poker face was unreadable.

 

But did it really matter? Her goal was to become a killer again. Because… because it just felt  _ right _ . She was a game master after all! Amanda shook her head. She needed more information and a plan. Talking to Quentin and especially Laurie should take priority, but approaching someone wasn’t really a strength of her. Amanda took a couple deep breaths and walked over to them. They were sitting on a log together as usual, having a light conversation. It stopped when the girl came closer.

“Uhm, Hi…”, she began and scratched her head. They both looked at her, waiting.

“I already learned a lot about the trials and the killers, but I think I’m missing something. Tapp told me, this Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are one of the most terrifying ones and he kinda explained to me what their power is, but...-”

“But  you want to know what is special about them? Or why we know them so well?”, interrupted Quentin. The girl nodded 

“I don’t think there is anything we could tell you that would help you in a trial, sorry.”, answered Laurie.

“We don’t want to be rude, Amanda. But it’s not easy for us to talk about our past or why they are… obsessed with us. The only thing you need to know is that they take us as their priority when we are in a trial.”

“You guys really don’t want to tell her that they kinda bend the rules in this world?” It was Ace who joined the conversation out of nowhere. Quentin and Laurie didn’t look too happy about him being there. The gambler stood right next to Amanda, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“This poor girl here just wants to be a better survivor. And if you give her some information, maybe she’s able to help you in a trial. You know about her potential.” He smiled and rubbed her arm. Amanda was visibly uncomfortable with him doing this, but she didn’t say anything. He tried to help her, for whatever reason.

“Fine.”, sighted Laurie, “Maybe there is one thing you should know about Michael. He is…  **evil** . I know, every killer is evil, that’s why they are killers, but Michael is different from them. Like Ace said, he bends the rules. You know that the killers need to hook you, right? He sometimes doesn’t. When he sees you and grabs you, it’s over in this moment. And getting killed by him is far worse than getting sacrificed.” She swallowed, but continued: “Never try to get his attention. Never try to help me when I’m getting chased. Just do the generators and leave. That’s the only advice i can give.”

“Thank you, Laurie.”, said Amanda softly. Ace still had an arm around her, but she started to relax a little bit.

“I guess it’s my turn now, right? Ha…” Quentin rubbed his neck. “I wouldn’t say Freddy bends the rules in a trial but he really likes to talk and to insult you. So I guess be prepared for that?” Laurie gave Quentin a slight hit with her elbow. “ Alright, alright… There is something else, but it happened just one time. You know that we don’t need sleep here, right? However, Feng rested a little bit on the fire and somehow fell asleep. We let her, but after a while, I noticed a dark spot on her shirt- it was blood. It took a lot to wake her up again. She said that she met the Nightmare in her dream. I actually thought that he had less power in this world, but obviously he still is able to wander in our dreams.”

“In conclusion, don’t try to rest.”

“Yeah. Luckily we really don’t need sleep here.”

Amanda nodded. “Thank you guys. And Ace...” she glanced over to him, “please let me go now.” He removed his arm and stepped back, hold his hands up in defense, but smiling. She turned around and started to walk away, quickly noticing that the gambler was following her.

“What do you want?”, she got really loud when she turned around to confront him.

“Me? What about a little ‘Thank you Ace. You are so great and handsome’?” His arrogance was too much for her to handle. Her face turned red.

“I didn’t ask you for help, did?” Ace just smiled his usual smile and stepped closer, but not in her personal space. 

“You were happy to see me when I unhooked you against the Wraith. So I actually helped you two times without you asking.” She squeezed her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Don’t you think there a difference between what happens inside and outside a trial?”, Her voice was snappish.

“But help is help, isn’t it? Oh, and don’t think of any reward, I already have something on my mind.” Ace drawed a little bit nearer. Suddenly the fog got thick around Amanda’s body, she was getting called into a trial. 

“I guess my reward has to wait, good luck, Mandy.” The last thing he saw were her dunning eyes, then she was gone, along with Quentin, Claudette and Nea.

 

“Ace, could you come here for a second?”, called the detective the gambler. The man sighted a little but got over to him. Bill was sitting there too.

“What’s up, detective?” He smiled and sat down next to Bill, already expecting something. The veteran mumbled in his beard but gave him a cigarette anyway and also lit it for him.

“I will ask you this just one time, so answer wisely.”, David was dead-serious, “Why are you doing this to Amanda?”

The man took a deep draw from his cigarette.

“I think she’s cute.”

“Didn’t I say answer wisely?”, said the detective with a warning voice.

“What do you want from me, detective? It’s the truth! She is cute, she’s a woman and she is obviously really into me.”

Bill let out a chuckle, but didn’t comment on it, but David Tapp did: “Really? She always looks really pissed when she talked to you.”

“She’s just trying to hide it. Doesn’t want to lower her guard, you know? Keeping her pride.”

“I can’t tell if you are serious or not.”

“Hey, detective, why would I lie to you?”

“Okay, let’s say I believe you. Don’t you think that’s a really bad idea? To get into a relationship in this world?”

“Who’s talking about a relationship?”

The detective stood up immediately, making his hand to a fist. Ace stood up as well.

“I also have question for you too, detective.”

“And what would that be?”

“She’s not your daughter. Why do you treat her like that?”

David widened his eyes, but instead of an answer, he just snorted and left. Ace shrugged his shoulders and looked at Bill. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Do you really have to ask me this?”, he answered.

The both smoked their cigarettes a little bit, before William spoke again: “You can’t really think it’s a good sign if a woman is mad at you.”

Ace laughed. “It’s so nice to see these emotions on her face. When she’s mad, the red is really present. It’s way lighter, nearly pink when it’s out of embarrassment. Unfortunately, this had happened only one time.”

Bills cigarette lit up when he took a deep draw. “You never acted like that towards the other girls.”

“They are basically teens.”

“No. They are pretty young, but no teens. Also, Amanda is not that much older. But you are.”

“Old man and young woman fit perfectly together. But you’re right, my interest doesn’t come out of nowhere.”

Ace flipped the cigarette stub into the woods. “It’s the cold look in her eyes when she thinks she’s not being observed. It’s her small figure slowly creeping around walls or through the cornfield in a trial. It’s her hair. Her voice. Her red face when I’m saying something… inappropriate.” Ace voice was low and emotionless.

Bill raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

“Anyway.”, The gambler stretched out for a moment and let out a huge yawn, “She’s here, she’s good in the trials. That’s all what matters, right?”


	11. Friends

The first one that came back was Quentin. He looked exhausted, which would be normal, but you could tell that there was something off, but he didn’t spoke to anybody, not even Laurie.

The second one was Claudette. Her face was similar to Quentins and Dwight asked her what happened. In return, she gave him an undefined look and whispered: “I’m not sure.”

Then Nea arrived at the campfire. Her face was different from the others, it was red out of anger. She kicked a rock in her way and yelled “Fuck off!” to Dwight, when he asked her, why she was making such a face. Nea crossed her arms, bit her lips and walked up and down in front of the fire, waiting.

Last but not least, Amanda came out of the forest. She didn’t look exhausted at all. Nea spotted her right away and stamped to her. She suddenly grabbed the girl by the shirt and pressed her backwards against a tree. Amanda remained calm, she didn’t even try to get out of her grib.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”, screamed Nea at her. She looked furious but Amanda didn’t say anything.

“HEY, I ASKED YOU SOMETHING!” Nea wrenched at her shirt. Finally someone stepped in. Detective Tapp grabbed Nea by her shoulder and said: “Let her go already.” The girl wanted to roll her shoulder out of his hand, but he didn’t let her.

“Let me go, you moron!”, she hissed. David got between them in response. She howled a little bit in pain as he grabbed her by her wrists roughly. Nea finally let go.

“Nea, what the hell is your problem?”, asked David insistently.

“ME?” The detective let her go. Nea flinched back, panted and rubbed her wrist. “Why don’t you ask HER?” She pointed at Amanda, who was still standing in front of the tree. Everyone turned their head to her now, but she remained silent.

“FINE. Guess I’m the bad one here!”, yelled the rebel, turning away from the crowd now. Meg tried to comfort her, but she just showed her the middle finger.

Amanda took a deep breath. She eventually turned now, heading towards the woods again. The detective immediately wanted to follow her.

“Don’t. Leave me alone.”, she said with a monotone voice, “Please.” David stopped and Amanda walked into the forest. 

She wasn’t sure how long she just has been moving forward, like in trance, but she didn’t hear the others or the fire anymore. It was just her and the quiet forest. The girl finally stopped and closed her eyes for a second.

The last trial had been against the Hag. Amanda already had had mixed feelings in the beginning. From all killers, Lisa was the most honest and simple one, because she behaved like an animal and, unlike the Wraith, the Hag didn’t really differ between her “freetime” and the trials. And so it happened, what happened: Lisa had seen Amanda and spared her the whole match. She even had tried to get her to hunt with her. And then there was one moment Nea had watched them interact. 

Amanda had triggered a trap near a generator and the Hag instantly teleported to it. They had stood there just looking at each other for some seconds, until the Hag slowly came closer. Amanda had lowered herself to be on eye level. Lisa carefully had reached out to her, stroking her black her softly. In return, the girl had touched the small killer by her shoulder, gently rubbing the grey skin. Again, it had been all just out of an affect. 

Everyone had been sacrificed, except for Amanda. 

_ I guess that’s it. What will happen when they all start to hate me? When they don’t bother helping me anymore? When they really find out, that I was… I  _ **_am_ ** _ a killer? Goddamn, this stupid Hag!  _ The girl shook her head. It wasn’t Lisa’s fault at all and after all the things that had happened, to see and act with her again had been an incredible feeling.

 

Jake was right about the forest, though. She heard nothing, but her own heartbeat. There was no smell, no wind, just emptiness. Amanda loved it. Suddenly she felt a presence in the forest, like she did when she had sat at the edge of it some time ago. Something started to whisper to her and she followed the call. It got louder… and louder and louder. 

Out of nowhere, there was a tall figure in front of her: The Shape. Amanda inhaled and flinched backwards, but he didn’t move. Something was strange. In the next moment, there was a noise to her right. It sounded like heavy panting, moaning and running. The figure was smaller and all in red...

It was herself. 

The Shape saw the figure too and slowly moved towards it, completely ignoring her.  _ Could that be…  _ Amanda ran after him, reached out to his body but wasn’t able to grab anything. An illusion. And she knew exactly what would happen next. Michael Myers positioned himself. The illusion of herself got grabbed and tackled to the ground. The real Amanda stepped closer to see if she could find some details. Something that would maybe tell her, why she switched sides.

To watch yourself getting murdered was tough. She remembered the pressure on her eyes and the sharp knife in her ribcage. Myers dropped her on the ground, looking at the result. For some seconds, nothing happened. He just stood there, looking, breathing. Suddenly something moved under the ground next to the body. The earth cambered and a black spider leg raised to the sky. The same happened on the left, right and behind. They got really big, pointing their tips to Myers. In the next moment, they struck at him. They drilled through his left and right leg, but he managed to grab one of the legs before it could reach his arm. The last one digged into his shoulder, but the Shape didn’t let go. He squeezed the leg in his hand roughly. His whole arm was vibrating and you could see all the muscles working through his overall. He raised his knife and cut the leg in half. You could hear a deep howl echoing in the forest and all the other legs flinched back, twisting in pain. The piece in his hand was still wiggling. He squeezed it more and it bursted. The three remaining legs remained in their position for some seconds. Than they wrapped themselves around Amanda’s body. She saw herself getting dragged into the ground until nothing of her was left. The figure of the Shape remained just for a moment and then the illusion vanished. Amanda’s knees got weak and she sank to the ground.  _ What was that? What does it mean? _ Her head replayed the szenario over and over again. It looked like these dark spider legs, the  _ entity _ , wanted to protect her. But in the end, it dragged her through the ground and made her  _ this. _ And what had the Shape to do with this? He had cut the leg. He actually had hurt the entity. Was that even possible?  _ Pure Evil… _

 

Amanda touched the ground softly and let some moments pass. The forest didn’t turn her mad or crazy, quite the the opposite was the case. She felt… warm. Secure. Like in the lap of a caring mother. The whispers in the air sounded now like a sweet lullaby. Amanda lied completely down and listened to it. She slowly closed her eyes and exhaled. 

 

***

 

Amanda found herself chained up in some sort of boiling room. There were noises of chattering pipes and sizzling hot air. 

“So, you are finally  **asleep** .” A deep laughter filled the room, but it had no direction. Amanda joggled on the chains, but they were out of metal and fixed to the wall behind her.

“Freddy Krueger.” She said calmly, but had a hard time to control her voice. A claw came out of the wall next to her, than another, and suddenly his whole body. He raised his chin, looked down on her and smiled.

“Doing your homework, eh?” He rubbed his finger claws together.

“What do you want from me?”

“What  **I** want from  **you** ? Weren’t you the one falling asleep in a deep forest? Not even having a dream I could join? I could’ve sworn you  **wanted** to see me. I loved your last dream by the way.”

Amanda swallowed but remained silent.

“So…?”, he tried again and showed her his teeth once more, “Or did you just wanted to visit me? How cute of you.” He lowered himself in front of her, showing off his sharp weapon.

“I really miss your red cape, _ little red riding hood _ . You looked so young and innocent in it. And so terrified.”  He played with her black hair, but she just stared at him. His corners of his mouth suddenly went down.

“Other survivors are way more chatty. They whine and beg all the time. You are almost boring.”

“I am  **not** a survivor.”

“YES YOU ARE!”, he yelled suddenly and swung his weapon, hitting the wall right next to her and leaving big, deep scratches on it.

“ **You** **are**. You always were. The moment you arrived in this fucking world everyone just knew it. Killer is not a role for you, my sweetheart. Can’t you see that? And finally someone did something about it.” He turned his back to her, stepping away.

“So it really was the Shapes fault.”

“Why won’t you LISTEN.” He got loud and angry and hit a pipe next to him. It felt to the ground with an unpleasant noise and hot steam filled the air.

“He corrected a  **mistake** .”

“I was  **not** a mistake!”, she screamed. Suddenly the chains around her hand got really tight. She got pulled up on her feet, then in the air still with her back on the wall. The metal cut her skin and she let out a surprised tone.

“Let’s see some facts, shall we?”, he said with excitement in his voice, “getting oppressed by the Trapper twice, hiding in the forest like a scared teenager, having dreams and the urgent to cut herself… Should I really continue?”

The girl lowered her head. 

“I thought so… and now let’s play, bitch.”

The chains vanished and she felt to the ground. Freddy raised his weapon and tried to hit her, but she sidestepped it.

“How agile you are… just like a survivor.”

“I am  **not** a survivor!”, she yelled again. He let out a deep snarl.

“I will convince you.” 

 

***

 

He was able to hit her multiple times, but somehow she managed to leave the boiler room and found herself in the Badham Preschool.

“Come back, bitch!”, she heard him yelling but Amanda started to run out of the school on the street, leaving dark blood puddles behind her. She breathed heavily and looked around.  _ A plan.. I need a plan!  _ This place looked like the usual Preschool realm and she actually spotted the shack in a corner. Amanda immediately sprinted towards it. Suddenly something grabbed her by her feet and she fell to the ground. It was a hand coming out from the ground, holding her tight. A deep laugher got to her ears. Amanda grinded her teeth and kicked the hand with her other feet. She kicked and kicked but it wouldn’t move. She let out an aggressive roar and kicked again. This time it was enough. You could her a deep pained howl and it sunk back into the ground. The girl got up on her feet again and ran towards the shack. A terrifying lullaby got to her ear, telling her he was close. Amanda suddenly spotted something familiar. A chest stood at the wall, looking like the usual you could find in the trials. Why was that here? There were no pallets or generators but this? The girl quickly opened it.  _ Come on.. come on!  _ Her hand touched something she knew very well. She pulled out her blade including the leather stripes for attachment. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Amanda quickly put it on. A rush of excitement flushed through her body.

“And what do you want to do with this toothpick, girl?”

She turned around and saw Freddy standing in the doorway with an evil grin on his face. But the moment their eyes met, he stopped smiling. “What…”

Her black hair hanged in front of her face in strands, but her brown eyes pierced through it. They were ice cold and determined, blood dropped from the corners of her mouth and her breathing was slow and steady. No indication of fear anymore. She slowly licked her lips and a terrifying smile got on her face. 

“Is that so…”, he mumbled and grinded his teeth.

“Don’t think you’ve won.”

 

***

 

“Amanda! Amanda, wake up!” The girl was shook by her shoulders and she immediately got a feeling of deja-vu. Amanda opened her eyes and looked in the face of the detective. Her whole body felt heavy and her head spun.

“Urgh…” She tried to get up, but everything hurt. The detective supported her back in the process. The girl looked down on herself. She was covered in blood and deep scratches were all over her body. She looked at her arm, but the blade wasn’t there anymore. She groaned. 

The dream was obviously over, but she was back at the survivor campfire again.  _ I felt so good in the shack. Like a  _ **_real_ ** _ killer. Why am I still here? _

“I told you not to go in the woods alone. And did you fall asleep? You look like you met the Nightmare!” Davids voice was full of anger and worry.

“How is it possible that I’m here again?” They both were on the edge of the forest, she couldn’t remember walking back.

“Come, let’s sit on on the fire first. We will talk there.” The detective escorted her the big logs around the campfire. Not everyone was there, not even Nea, but enough that the staring made her feel uncomfortable. They sat down next to each other.

“Tell us what happened.”, asked David softly. Amanda knew that the truth wasn’t really an option, but a fitting lie would do the trick.

“After what happened against the Hag, I felt ashamed.”, she tried to sound apologetic and even let her head sink down, “I don’t know why the killer didn’t want me. I don’t know why i acted like that. It was so strange...”, She made a pause and hugged herself, “I didn’t know how to react and what to tell Nea. I ran away because it was too much for me. I’m sorry…” She let out a soft cry. Judging by the looks on the face of the others, they believed her for now.

“And what about your injuries?”, asked the detective.

“I ran really far and was totally exhausted. I rested at a tree and started to think about the situation. I’m not exactly sure how I could fall asleep there, because I didn’t feel tired, but the next moment I looked up, I was in a boiling room, chained to a wall.”

“And then you met Freddy.”, he reasoned and Amanda nodded slightly.

In the next moment, Nea and Meg came out of the woods each one with a toolbox in their hand. When Amanda spotted her, she stood up. She even wobbled a little bit and it wasn’t acted. The wounds still hurt like crazy.

Nea instantly approached her with constricted eyebrows. But as soon as she realised the amount of blood on the girls body, she looked surprised.

“What… what happened to you?”, she asked. 

“After I ran away I… I got caught.”, she summarized.  _ Here comes the hard part.  _ Amanda stepped forwards and stopped with an arm-length distance in front of the rebell.

“I’m so sorry Nea. I can’t explain what happened and why, but I swear it will never happen again. That’s a promise.”

Nea eyed her from the head to the feet and back. She pursed her lips. 

“I think I need to apologize too. If I wouldn’t have been so mean to you, you would’ve not run away. And this... could’ve been prevented.” 

They briefly smiled at each other.

“And now kiss.”, commented Ace with a grin and immediately got slapped by Meg, Everyone laughed. 

Her trip in the woods was confusing, but it did something to her. It started a little flame in her body  and it just waited for some matches...


	12. Trapped (I)

Everything went back to normal after her little trip into the woods. She even faced the doctor and she could’ve sworn that he loved to chase her more than her mates, but it wasn’t obvious enough for the others to notice. There also was a trial against the Nurse. She acted similar to Philip, pretending not to know who she was or talking to her. But Amanda didn’t ask in the first place, knowing it would be pointless. But with every match she had, her anxiety grew. When will be the first time against the Trapper? Or the Shape? She didn’t look forward to it.

Amanda sat by the fire, when Ace returned from his trial. He was the first and judged by the look in his eyes the match didn’t end well. It was the first time Amanda saw him without his (stupid) sunglasses. He sat down by himself, which was kind of unusual. With the elbows on his knees and the head hanging low, he looked concerned. The girl took a deep breath and stood up, walking over to him.

“May I?”, she asked him first and he looked up, but only shortly.

“Sure.”

The girl sat down, crossing her legs and looking into the flames again. She didn’t say anything for a while and also Ace didn’t change his position. Amanda took one of the two puzzle pieces out of her pocket and through it into the fire.

“You look like shit”, she finally said and he laughed briefly.

“I feel like it too.”, Ace agreed.

“What’s the matter?” The gambler sighted and straightened his back again.

“You know, these matches can be brutal. But this was… slaughter.” Eventually his mates returned. Bill, Meg and Dwight looked as terrible as him.

“It was the Trapper.”, he said while watching the other three settle down. The girl swallowed and a shiver went down her spine.

“I really don’t want to go into detail. But he was really sadistic this time.” She saw in his face that he had trouble finding words.

“And… it was the first time I heard him speaking.”, Ace added.

“He… spoke? What did he say?”, Amanda felt the stress in her body rising.

“After he hooked me, he looked straight into my eyes and said ‘I am waiting’. Man, his voice… it’s so deep and rough, it went right into my bones.”

The girl tensed up and her nails digged into her skin as she clenched her fists. It was a message. To her.

“You have an idea what that means?”, she asked and nearly whispered.

“No, I don’t. But it frightens me.”

_ Me too, Ace. _

They both felt silent for a moment, until the gambler let out an insecure laugh.

“You actually sit with me. Is it because you enjoy my suffering?”, he joked but she could tell that it was kind of serious. Amanda smirked. Suddenly, she reached for his hand that rested on his leg and gently grabbed it. 

“I’m paying my debt, that’s all.” The look on his face was priceless, but than he went back to his usual smile.

“You like me, don’t you.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Alright, alright. There is only one favor left and I thought that you and me could doo~aaah!” Amanda squeezed his hand really hard and he groaned in pain.

“Girl, please, let me speak out first before you try to murder me!”, he joked and pulled his hand back.

“Okay, what do you want?”

“What about a trip to a ruin? Just you and me and the deadly forest?”, he tried to sound flirty, but was only half-serious about it.

“Fine...”

 

***

 

It didn’t take Ace a lot of time to start a topic, that she could life without it: Her past. 

“Why are you so interested in that anyway?”, asked Amanda, already annoyed. Ace stretched his arms out, being totally relaxed. Incredible, just a few minutes ago he had been totally exhausted and destroyed.

“Just curious. And it helps alot with understanding the behaviour of someone if you know their background.”, he said. The girl knit her eyebrows and stopped walking.

“Is my behaviour abnormal or what do you want to say with that?” She sounded a little bit angry.

“No! No, no.”, he tried to pacify, “I’d say it’s strange, sometimes.” 

The girl crossed her arms. “For example?”

“Uhm... “, he scratched his head, thinking about what to say and how to put it, “You didn’t need a lot of time to understand what you had to do, you kicked the Cannibal in the face, you burned the Wraith, the Hag didn’t want to eat you, you went into the woods by your own and sometimes you have this weird scary look on your face. Honestly, you are not a typical survivor, to put it like that.”

Amanda tilted her head to one side and gave him an undefined look. “Maybe I’d be a better killer?”

“That,s uhh…” He stepped backwards.

“A joke, Ace. It was a joke.”

“Sure, sure…”

They moved deeper into the woods, but remained silent for a while. Finally, a ruin showed itself between some trees. To Amanda’s surprise, it was another Meat Plant ruin, similar to the one she saw with Detective Tapp the last time, just bigger. Walls and the ceiling were still up, but cracked. There were three rooms inside, full of junk and broken TVs. Ace moved in first, while Amanda stared at it for a while. It strangely reminded her of her rehab clinic. 

“Hey, check this out!”, called the gambler from the inside and the girl finally entered the ruin. He was in the room to her left, on the ground were a lot of syringes, but they were all empty.

“Maybe the entity gave itself a nice-time here”, he joked, but the girl didn’t react to it. She started at the syringes for a moment. Yeah, there were definitely some clinic-vibes in here and she didn’t like it at all.

“I did. In my past.”, she suddenly said with a monotone voice, still staring at the ground. The gambler turned to her, waiting for her to continue.

“I was addicted to heroin. I also was in a clinic for rehab.”, she smiled sadly, “happy with this answer?”

Ace stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder.. “If you think that will scare me off, you are wrong.” He passed her and walked into another room.

The girl just stood there with wide eyes and she felt the blood rushing into her face.

“Hey!”, she shouted and turned, following him into the next room, “Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?” The gambler just opened a cupboard and found a flashlight in it. He didn’t turn around. “What do you mean?”, he innocently asked. 

“I’m not stupid, I get it.”, Amanda stood with her hands on her hips, “you obviously flirt with me between these awful questions about my home and past.”

“Is that so?” Ace slowly turned around with his hands in his pockets. “And? Does it work?” He gave her an impertinent smile.

“N-No, of course not!”, the girl stumbled over her own words, “you are, like, 50 years old! You could be my father!”

Ace just giggled and shrugged his shoulders. “You can call me  _ Daddy  _ anytime.” 

Amanda froze for a moment, in disbelief about what he just said, then she bit her lips out of anger, snorted and turned. 

“Shut up.”, she barked and went into another room.

_ How DARES he? Does he believe he gets away with anything?  _

Just in this moment Amanda realised in which kind of area she was standing: It was an exact copy of her testing room. Everything was there, the TV, the chair, the big bright lamp,. even a Reverse Bear Trap was lying on the chair. There were just two bodies missing: Herself and Donald Greco, her cellmate. For a moment, Amanda could’ve sworn she saw something in the corner of her eye, the shape of Jigsaw, but when she turned her head, nothing was there. A soft sight rolled over her lips. The girl stepped to the chair and grabbed the RBT. The metal felt good. Once on her head, now in her hand, the tables really had turned. Multiple times. 

“You found anything useful?” She twitched shortly.

“Nothing what we could use.” Amanda showed him the trap.

“Oh, that once was the weapon of the Pig, you know? The killer that’s probably gone.”, he explained to her and she nodded.

“It hurt like hell”, he spoke further, “even if it wasn’t activated. And if it was, boy, better be lucky.” He laughed briefly. “It never killed me.”

_ I know, you lucky bastard. _

“And you had one on your head too, right? In the real world?”, he carefully asked.

“Yes. It was part of my trial.” She licked her lips, unsure if she should really tell him more. But the detective probably already told them anyway. “It nearly killed me. Luckily I found the key in the right moment. You know, the one hidden in the body of my fainted cellmate.”

“Are you trying to scare me again?” Amanda shrugged her shoulders.

“Perhaps.”

She still had the trap in her hands when Ace stepped closer.  _ What will happen if I put this on him? _

He came even closer and she clutched the trap more.  _ Would it kill him? _

“What’s on your mind right now?”, he asked softly and Amanda smirked.

“I don’t think you want to know.” Suddenly, he raised a hand and her body tensed up. Ace softly brushed some hair out of her face. She followed his movement with her eyes.  _ Maybe that would be the right moment to find out… _

Suddenly, a familiar feeling floated through her body. It was the fog, asking for a trial.

“I’m getting called”, she quickly said and looked him straight in the eyes, but he didn’t move at all. The gambler smirked.

“Well, if that’s the case, we need to hurry up.”

Ace leaned forwards and their lips met. It was a soft and light kiss but it sent a humongous jolt right through her body. Amanda’s vision started to blur and she squinted her eyes.

 

In the next moment, she was gone. 

 

Ace opened his eyes slowly, feeling just cold air on his lips.

“Heh…” He sunk to the ground, hiding his face under his hand. “Am I stumbling or already falling?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> It wasn't planned- but I liked the idea ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	13. Trapped (II)

When Amanda opened her eyes again, she stood in the middle of a white hall. Her offering did his duty, she was at the Meat Plant, but her head had was full of something else. She felt the heat in her face and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.  _ What the hell was he thinking?! _ It was this moment when the girl noticed, that she still had the Reverse Bear Trap in her hand.  _ And what am I gonna do with this in a trial? Trap a killer? Thanks, entity.  _ This idea was as stupid… as it was clever.  _ If this trap really works…  _ The girl wasn’t able to finish her thought. She heard a snapping sound echoing through the halls, like someone disarmed a trap.

It was time. She had to finally face her worst enemy, the Trapper who was waiting for this moment since she switched sides.  _ Stay calm… stay calm…  _ Amanda swallowed and took a couple of deep breaths. She needed to be extra carefully while crouching around. Luckily, his traps were visible and she was familiar with the surroundings. 

 

Amanda was too careful and too scared to be an actual help for her teammates. She tried to stay alone at generators and if there was just the slightest tension in the air, she would hide. She avoided to go for unhooks and sometimes was in a corner to calm herself down, even if he wasn’t nearby.

And so it happened what happened. There were no generators done, but only two people left, her and Jake. The good thing was, he tried to stay alone too. The bad thing, nothing got done for a long time. Amanda slowly started to work on a generator. The reverse bear trap was right next to her. She glanced a couple of times to it, wondering and thinking about the possibilities.  _ If I could-  _ The gen exploded and Amanda flinched back  _ Shit!  _ There was no way he was not coming over her to check. The girl looked around an panicked.  _ Hide! Hide already!  _ She grabbed the trap and jumped into a red locker. There were three of them in her room. Evan McMillan’s heavy footsteps got louder and louder and he eventually was there. His figure was even more monstrous than she remembered. He wore a different mask, but it was as haunting as the one she knew. The girl hold her breath. The Trapper looked at the generator intensely, then he turned his head from left to right. “Come out, little piglet, come out…” His rough voice reached deep into her medulla. Her head already felt dizzy, but she still didn’t breath. His head slowly turned into her direction, his eyes staring at the locker she was in. He slowly stepped nearer.  _ This is my end.  _ Amanda squinted her eyes. 

Suddenly, a cry of pain echoed through the halls. Jake had stepped into one of Evan’s traps. The killer looked into the direction, back to the locker and finally back to his successful trap. 

 

He left to go for it.

 

The girl released her breath and coughed. Her lungs burned like crazy and she opened the locker.  _ Thanks, Jake. _ Somehow the boy managed to get out of the trap, but couldn’t escape long enough. When Amanda’s generator was nearly done, the Trapper catched him and he got sacrificed instantly. Before the girl finished the only generator, she stared at the Reverse Bear Trap again.  _ If I do the generator, he will know where I am. And I need to do one more before I could maybe escape. _ She took her fingers off the wires.  _ He will get me anyway, won’t he?  _ She smiled.  _ So what do I have to lose…? _

  
  


Evans excitement was rising and rising. He had known that she was in this goddamn locker, but he really wanted to kill the boy first. And now, they were alone. Just him and the little piglet. And evil grin formed under his mask. He would take as much time as he needed… 

“Hey!”, screamed a female voice and the Trapper looked up. The girl was standing at the edge of a hole, looking down on him. Her voice was vibrating. 

“Finally…” He clutched his weapon harder. “Come down to me and I promise you, I’ll end you quick.” 

To his surprise, the girl started to giggle and it filled him with rage.

“What’s so funny, Miss Piggy?”, he yelled at her. 

“Oh, nothing. I just wondered if your face is as ugly as your mask. Is that the reason why you’re wearing it?”

“You little…”

“Or are you hiding your insecurities under it? Poor little Evan. Are you even enjoy killing? Can’t tell.”

“And I can’t wait to look down on you again with your face in the dirt. I can’t wait for your begging and sobbing while you try to hold your guts in your body.” 

She started to laugh, holding her stomach with one hand, pointing her finger at him with the other.

“Just look at you! I can’t deny that I wasn’t afraid of you, Evan. But now? I heard other survivors talking about you. Do you think they are afraid? Do you think they have respect? If it wasn’t for the rules…”

“SHUT UP!”

The Trapper suddenly grabbed his mask and took it off, it immediately bursted in his hands under the amount of pressure. Their eyes met and she could tell that he was full of hate. His bare face gave her shivers. There was a big scar over his nose and lips and his skin was cracked all over. He grinded his teeth.

“I’ll show you how much I’ll enjoy ripping you apart!” He eventually moved to the nearest staircase to get her. This was the sign. She bolted.

 

When Evan arrived where he had seen her last, she wasn’t around anymore. He snarled deeply.  _ You made me angry and now you’re hiding? Pathetic.  _ He suddenly heard a noise to his left, it was the sound of a snapping trap.  _ A disarm.  _ He moved over to the origin, but again, no sign. In the corner of his eyes he saw movement at the staircase. Someone was running down there. He grinned and went quickly downstairs, but no one was around anymore. 

“STOP HIDING!” His mad voice echoed through the halls. Nothing. He let out a deep roar and smacked his weapon against the wall. His breathing was heavy and his muscles tense. This Hide-And-Seek-Game got on his nerves.

A sudden snap and scream got his attention.

“Finally…” He laughed and moved towards to his successful catch. It was inside the room right under the big cone. There were barrels, pig heads and a lot of blood. Evan stepped around the corner, ready to see Amanda struggling.

But… there was just a pig leg in the trap. The Trapper’s shoulders sank down and he knitted his eyebrows.

 

“GRAAAH!” 

He had no time to react. Amanda jumped from the top of the barrels right on his shoulders and spine, slamming the Reverse Bear Trap on his head. He tried to reach behind him, but couldn’t get a grab on her. She eventually slipped off but couldn’t balance herself out. She stumbled backwards and landed on her butt. The Trapper grabbed the metal on his head and pulled. He howled and roared but it didn’t move a single bit. Amanda panted heavily and grinned. It was a picture for the gods. When Evan heard a slight laughter, he stopped his struggling and turned around.

“YOU!” The Trapper swung his cleaver and Amanda tried to block it with her arms. It cut deep into her flesh and she screamed in pain. Somehow she was able to push it sideways and it slipped of her arm. The Trapper swung again. This time, Amanda rolled to the side and his weapon hit the barrel. She quickly stood up.

“YOU WILL REGRET THIS!”, he screamed at her and Amanda tuned on her heels, sprinting away. Evan was right behind her when she reached the staircase. Luckily, there was a pallet right around the corner and he had to break it, giving her more time to reach the gen that was almost done. The girl immediately stuck her fingers in the side hole and pulled the last wires together. In the same moment when Evan struck her spine, the gen popped and activated the trap. Amanda tried to get away again, but this time the Trapper was quicker. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her roughly back. The girl screamed and stumbled backwards. He didn’t use his weapon but hit her head painfully with his bare backhand. The girl lost her balance again and fell down.

“You. Will.  **Pay** !” He clenched the cleaver when he stepped over to her. She lied on her back, her face to his far side. Suddenly, she laughed. It was a giggling at first but then she nearly bursted. She had to cough in between and her muscles cramped, but she didn’t stop. Amanda turned her head and looked right at him with an evil grin. Evan had enough. He stepped on her chest and the girl caughted again.

“What’s so funny?!”, he yelled at her. His face was all in red and tensed up.

“Are you really this dumb? Don’t you hear it? Your time’s running short.” In response, he stomped on her and Amanda whimmered a bit, but didn’t stop grinning. 

“Your weak trap can’t defeat  **me** .” He gave his best to sound convinced, but Amanda heard a little bit of insecurity in his voice.

“Do you even know how this trap works?”, she tilted her head to the side, “it rips your skull appart.”

Evan took his feet from her chest, but the girl didn’t have any time to take a breath. He grabbed her by her collar and lifted her up.

“A key. You have one, don’t you? Give it to me!” Amanda just grinned. He let her go but smacked her again with his backhand. The girl stumbled backwards. Blood was dripping from her nose and mouth, but the grin was still there.

“Don’t worry. I’ll give you a clue.”, she said and lifted her chin.

“I hid it in a pig head.”

“If you think I’ll play your stupid game, you are WRONG.” He grabbed the trap once more, pulled and pulled but nothing. The timer started to tick faster. The Trapper lowered his hands and stood there for a moment, fixing her with his eyes, thinking. Then he stepped forward and grabbed her by her hair again.

“Don’t think you’ll escape.” He dragged her with him to the nearest pig head. He let her go, stuck his arm in the throat and searched. Amanda felt dizzy but crossed her arms to show her amusement. This one was a miss. He howled and grabbed her by the hair again. With every pig head he searched, he got more brutal and, in the end, he just ripped the heads apart and looked for a key in the mess. His movement speed got quicker and quicker too. Finally, they stood in the last room with two remaining pig heads. The timer was ticking like crazy, but Evan was convinced. He figured out that Amanda was following him around anyway and also stayed when he searched for the key, so he just let her go and went right for it. He ripped the first one apart, but nothing. Amanda leaned against a wall, crossing her legs and arms, waiting. Evan tensed up more and more while he nearly carefully searched they key in the last pig head. When he found nothing, he roared and slammed it to the ground, looking furious. To her surprise, he sank down, searching again in the mess of flesh and blood but without success. The timer ran short.

“YOU LIAR!”, he screamed and stood up again, turning around.

“YOU LIED TO ME! IT’S NOT IN A PIG HEAD! WHERE IS IT?  **WHERE IS IT?!** ” Evan grabbed her roughly. The girl didn’t say anything, but started to chew something in her mouth. Then she slowly rolled her tounge out. Evan’s eyes widened when he saw the small key right in front of him. But before he had time to do something, it was over. The beeping turned into a long cheep and the trap snapped. The Trapper’s skull crushed between the metal and blood splattered to all sides. His monstrous body was still up for a couple of seconds, but then it was tipping over backwards. 

_ It’s over.  _

The girl inhaled deeply and closer her eyes. 

_ It’s done.  _

She wiped with her arm over her face to get rid of his blood.

_ I defeated him. _

She began to giggle and it growed into a crazy laugher. With her back against the wall she slided to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her body and slowly seesawed forwards and backwards. 

_ And now? _

She felt silent again and opened her eyes slowly. 

_ And now… _

A sudden noise got her attention. She looked to her right side and saw for the first time the hatch. There was a strange humming coming from it and black mist was rising out of a deep black howl. The girl slowly stood up. This was the ticked out of here, wasn’t it? She stood at the edge for a couple of seconds and finally jumped into the darkness.


	14. The Truth

The feeling of falling through absolute darkness was frightening.. For a long time, there was absolutely nothing but prickling in her guts. Amanda didn’t know if her eyes were closed or open, there was absolutely no difference in what she saw, or better, what she not saw. She bit her lips and pressed her eyelids together, hoping that it was over soon. Suddenly something stopped her, caught her gently without hurting her. On her back, legs and arms she could feel the familiar spider legs of the entity, even if she couldn’t see it. They were moving under her body, massaging her exhausted limps. Her anxiety slowly faded away and Amanda started to relax, like she did in the forest where she had been on her own. For the other survivors, the entity was something scary, something you have to be afraid of. It messed with your head, it broke your soul. But right here, right now she felt more save than ever in her entire life. It could be so gentle… if you do, what it wanted you to do. One of the entity's limps wrapped itself around her waist, then another one. The girl wasn’t afraid and slowly felt her body sinking through.

 

When Amanda opened her eyes again, she was lying on the ground. She looked into the thick foliage of the forest above her. Slowly she got up, but felt a little bit dizzy. Her injuries were all gone and so was the Reverse Bear Trap. The memories of the last trial came to her head again and she smiled. She was able to defeat him. For once, she had been over him, looking down on his crushed body. Amanda could feel an unknown strength in her body. Her pig head, blade and cape were still missing, but she felt so much different, she had to be back! This had to me the killer side again. The girl looked around. She squeezed her eyes and saw a fire between the trees. She went forward with excitement and nearly got into a sprint, the closer she got. When she eventually rushed through the final trees, she stood right in the middle… of the survivor campfire. Nearly everyone was there, looking at her with confused eyes. Amanda’s shoulder dropped.

_ No... Impossible! I PROVED myself! I am worthy!  _ She grabbed her hair and grinded her teeth.  _ Nothing changed? Everything will still be the same? _ The girl took a deep breath and lowered her hands again.  _ Calm down… it wasn’t pointless, right?  _ She looked at the other survivors, but didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down on one of the bigger logs.  _ Right...? _

For some reason, she expected the others to come over, asking her again and again what happened in the trial, but nobody did. After some minutes, four survivors came out of the forest, nearly at the same time. It were Detective Tapp, Claudette, Quentin and David. It looked like it was a successful trial for them. Just in this moment Amanda noticed, that Ace was missing. Every other survivor was here… was he still in the woods? She had been called, so he had to go back by himself. The detective seemed to notice too. He talked to Bill and glanced to Amanda a couple of times while talking. Finally he came over. But before he could say anything, the girl spoke.

“I don’t know where he is.”

David smiled briefly. “So you noticed that he’s missing.”

“Yes. We were both in the woods, but then I got called.” He nodded and sat down next to her.

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“You were also gone for a long time.” Amanda raised an eyebrow. 

“I was in a trial.”

“Yes, I know. But if time would be a thing in this world, I’d say it was hours ago that Jake came back. Did something happen?”

It took the girl a while before she answered his question.

“Nothing got done in the trial. When Jake got sacrificed, I was the only one alive, but I still had a generator to do.”

“Oh, I see. Did you escape?” Amanda nodded without thinking. The detective widened his eyes, smiled and gently patted her shoulder.

“Amazing! This is definitely not an easy thing to do.”

“What about Ace, though? Should we search for him?”, she quickly changed the topic.

“Unfortunately, there is nothing we could do. He will come back, for sure, but it can be tricky for him… are you worried?” It could have been an innocent question, but the detective had a weird look in his eyes and she couldn’t think of a fitting interpretation.

“Uhm, yes, of course.”, she said hesitantly. 

The detective turned his head to the fire, not saying anything for a couple of seconds. He pursed his lips.

“You know, it’s a strange world. But that doesn’t mean that nobody is allowed to feel something for someone else.”

“What are you driving at?”

“If you like Ace, why not go for it?”

A shock went through Amanda’s body. 

“What? Why? How? ”, she stumbled over her own words and David started to giggle. He turned his head to her and wanted to say something, but then he saw someone familiar behind her coming out of the woods. 

“Speaking of the devil.”

Amanda turned around quickly. Ace stood at the edge of the forest with a dirty jacked and an exhausted face and there were twigs sticking out of his messy hair. But besides that, he looked alright. He gave them a bright smile and Amanda’s face got red. She couldn’t deny that it took a load of her mind.

“Maybe I should leave you alone.”, the detective said and stood up. She really wanted to say ‘No!’ but she swallowed it down.

“Good to see you alive, Ace!”, the detective said and smiled.

“Man, I really hate this forest. I passed the same tree a hundred times!” They both laughed and the detective eventually turned and went over to Bill again.

The gambler on the other hand took the free seat next to Amanda. There was a big grin on his lips and she really wanted to punch it out of his face.

“Hey girl, what’s up.”, he said in a cheesy voice. She didn’t want to look at him and stared into the flames instead.

“The sky.”, she said with a dry voice, but he laughed nonetheless.

“How was your trial?”, he asked and stretched his legs, making himself comfortable, while Amanda tensed up more.

“Fine.”

“Did you escape?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

They both remained silent. Ace still smiled and then started to croon something quietly. 

 

Enough was enough. She spun her upper body around quickly and grabbed the gambler angrily by the collar.

“What is your fucking problem?!”, she yelled at him with furious eyes. 

Ace kept his grin and lifted his hands.

“I didn’t do anything. darling.”

“Don’t call me darling!”

“Okay, honey..”

“Urgh!” She released him with a push and stood up, clenching her fists again.

“Do you really think you’re doing good with this scam?! Do you really think this has any kind of future?!” The gambler sighted a little bit, but didn’t say anything at first. He just stood up and grabbed her softly by her wrists.

“Let’s go over there.” He tilted his head shortly in the direction of the forest and Amanda followed him. When they were a couple feets away from the fire and the others, they stopped, but he didn’t release her yet. 

“There is no future.”, he slowly said, “so why should I think of that?”

“So it’s pointless.” Amanda tried to get out of his grip, but he just pulled her a little bit closer, grabbing the other hand of her as well. She had to look him in the eyes now.

“No, it isn’t. never heard of ‘living in the moment’?” It was hard to look him directly in his eyes. They were grey and blue and, like the rest of him, daring.

“Tell me.”, he started to speak with a soft voice, “What do you want? What do expect?” The girl bit her lips, but didn’t say anything. His smile faded.

 

“Do you rather want to be a killer again?”

 

Amanda’s eyes widened and a shiver went through her body.

“How...” she aspirated. 

“The moment I saw you. I wasn’t sure first, but after our first trial together, I was pretty sure.” The girl was lost for words.

“Don’t worry. Bill maybe knows too, but I think he doesn’t care. And the others are clueless, even our dear detective.” 

Her knees shook and everything seemed to pull her down, but Ace grib kept her on her feet. 

“How.. did you find out? And why didn’t you tell anybody?” All her anger had disappeared and her voice was kind of wailingly.

“The way you moved- or should I say crouched?. And the fact that you seemed so familiar with your surroundings.”, he made a brief pause, “oh, and your body shape.” 

Amanda got red again. “You’re a pervert.” He just laughed.

“And what would be the purpose if I told anybody? In the worst case, they would’ve repudiate you. And that would definitely have negative consequences for a trial.” 

“Sounds reasonable…”, she mumbled.

“Anyway, some of us did things in the real world that we are not proud of. And that also doesn’t matter.”

She sighted a little bit. 

“And... maybe I already fantasized about you when you were still the Pig.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Hey, I’m a simple man.”

“You are a lot of things, but definitely not simple!” He laughed again. Amanda had a strange feeling in the guts. It was a mixture out of relieve, sympathy and absolute aversion. She felt torn between punching him and… something else. Ace loosed his grib around her waists but his hands stayed there, slowly sliding down in hers.

“What was it like to be a killer?”, he nearly whispered the words, but his curiosity was real.

“Honestly? Exciting. But as punishing as when you lose as a survivor.”

“And why aren’t you anymore?” Ace was already holding her hands and she kind of returned it.

“That’s… a complicated question. I don’t think I can or want to answer that.”, she replied honestly. She felt his thumbs gently stroking her skin. 

“Alright…” Ace leaned closer to her face. She closed her eyes and waited, expecting something, but it didn’t came. When the girl opened her eyes again, he was still close, but with a grin on his face.

“Got ya’.”, he said softly and briefly laughed. Amanda pressed her lips together, her cheeks were red again.

“You are an idiot.” She quickly pulled her hands back. Ace was already sighting, when she suddenly grabbed his face, pulled him closer and pressed her lips on his. It took him by surprise, but he smiled into the kiss. Carefully the gambler wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. They moved their lips like they were massaging each other and Amanda sighted quietly. Her left hand wandered upwards and she ran her fingers through his light hair. It was unexpectedly soft. When they finally separated, she didn’t dare to look him into the eyes. instead she placed her head against his shoulder and put her arms around his body.

 

_ How does it feel like, Amanda?  _

 

She hold him tight and felt his warm breath against her neck.

 

_ Tell me the truth. _


	15. Determination (I)

She had to admit, it was nice. It was like going home from a hard day of work and your lovely partner was waiting for you with dinner and wine. Except that the work was a trial full of pain and death and the dinner was nothing but the thought of it. But the soft touches and kisses were the same and for Ace, it was enough. Amanda had thought about the everything that happened for a long time. She had tried to become a killer again by not playing the survivor rules and after the jump in the hatch, it had felt like victory. But since she had woken up here again, she was out plans. Maybe the only thing left to do was to accept the new determination, together with Ace. Nobody said anything against them when they were together. Sure, the detective wasn’t happy with it and maybe some of the others lifted their eyebrows, but over all, they didn’t mind or didn’t care. 

Also, Ace and Amanda never gave their whole ‘relationship’ a word. It was just what it was, living the moment, like he said.

 

But everytime Amanda closed her eyes, a harsh word pushed itself into her mind.

 

**Betrayal.**

 

But, to what? To who? The girl sighted and leaned her head back against Ace’ chest. She was sitting between his legs and his arms were resting on hers. 

“What is it?”. he asked and looked down on a head full of black hair. 

“Nothing.”

His mouth escaped a brief laughter. “Why do all woman say that? They scream and yell and have a fully red face while stomping on the ground, but when you asked them what’s wrong, they all say ‘Nothing’.” 

“Oh, am I your typical woman?”, her voice was exaggerated so he knew she wasn’t serious.

“Well, you have everything you need to be one.”, he smirked, “I hope.”

Amanda laughed and lifted her chin, so she could look him in the eyes. Ace planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Could you guys keep that to yourself?”, commented Nea, who was sitting vis-à-vis of them. She had a disgusted look in her eyes.

“Really? A kiss on the forehead is your pain threshold? Did you live as a nun before?”, joked Ace with a daring smile and it didn’t left Nea cold.

“Shut up, you pervert!”, she stood up and left the campfire, heading over to Dwight, Meg and Claudette.

“She’s totally into Meg.”, Ace suddenly said.

“What?”

“Sure! You really need to watch others more carefully. See for yourself.” He grabbed her chin and turned her head to the group.

“See how she ‘accidentally’ touched on her shoulder? Or how she always tilts her head softly to the side when she smiles at her? Or how she always shifts her weight to the feet that is closer to her? I’m telling you.”

The girl watched her carefully, but couldn’t really see what he meant. Maybe he just made that up, but on the other side, he was great in poker, probably because he could read body language so well. 

“And, Mr. All-Knowing, what does Meg think about that?”

“Hm, let’s see.”, he watched them closely, “I think Meg is a girl without any experience in such things, not with boys, neither with girls. She doesn’t react to any of the signs, not even negatively.”

“Wow.”

“And Meg really wants to making out.” 

“You dumbass.”, she lifted her hand and softly smacked his cheek with it, but before she could take it back, he grabbed her hand and gave her palm a light kiss. Suddenly Amanda felt something wet sliding between her fingers, slowly going up and down.

_ This guy…  _ She pulled her hand away and leaned forward to straighten her back. Then she turned around and looked into nearly innocent eyes, if there wasn’t this impertinent smirk on his face.  _ Seriously, what am I thinking?  _ She shoved the thought aside and leaned in for a kiss and he appreciated it immediately. The tongue that was at her fingers before now slipped between her lips and she parted them slightly. They both had her eyes closed, but while Ace lost himself in the moment, Amanda suddenly twitched. She immediately broke the kiss and leaned back, touching her head with one hand.

“What’s wrong?”, Ace asked.

“I don’t know… My head hurts like crazy...” She pressed her eyes together. There was a sudden constant pounding on her temples and it felt like too much blood rushed through her veins.

“Your nose is bleeding!”

The girl opened her eyes again and looked into a worried face. She touched the space between her nose and mouth and felt the blood on her fingers.

_ What is happening? _

“Maybe you should lie down for a second.”, said the gambler and already pressed her down by the shoulders. He offered her his lap to rest on. Amanda just nodded and stretched out, putting her head on his thighs. She tried to wipe the blood away with her hand, but it wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Did that ever happen to you? Or one of the others?”, she asked and looked up, just to see a head shaking.

“Never. Injuries outside a trial aren’t really possible. Except when you… “meet” the Nightmare, I guess. But that’s not what happened, am I right?”

Amanda suddenly reached for her arm and pinched some skin. She squinched up her face.

“I’m awake.”

“You really weren’t sure?”

“You never know…”

They both fell silent. Amanda looked at the hand she wiped the blood away with.

_ Strange… _

Lying down definitely helped a little bit, but she still had a feeling that something was off. There was a restlessness in her guts and it kept seething, but didn’t overboil, not yet.

 

***

 

Time passed by but the strange feeling was with her all the time. On top of that, she never was called into a trial again, since the one against the Trapper. Other seemed to notice that too, but there was no plausible answer Amanda could give to them. Hell, she had no idea either! Especially David King behaved very strange lately. He seemed to be even more restless, more aggressive and when he looked at her, there was something undefined in his eyes.

The girl also avoided the woods around the campfire. There was a fear in her head that she will just get dragged into the ground again and she couldn’t imagine what the next station would be. Of course she thought about the possibility, that she would become a killer again, but after her short meeting with entity, who basically let her slip through, this option became more and more unrealistic for her. 

 

And honestly, being together with Ace was better than she expected it to be. There was a time in the beginning where she thought he would just dump her. That he just had wanted to prove that he could have everyone, but this moment never came. Amanda couldn’t help but feel like that this was a mistake. He  _ should  _ dump her. He  _ should  _ leave her. The girl was in a constant stage of insecurity, her feelings went from a craving for loving attention to a craving for bloody murder. The restlessness didn’t help either, it even intensified these feelings. Maybe this bloodlust was just a leftover from being a killer? And it would disappear with time? But why did it get stronger and stronger every day?

 

The girl was sitting at the fire and tapped her feet like she was waiting. And it was true, Ace had been called for a trial and she couldn’t wait for him to come back. She didn’t want to be alone with this high tensity in her body, unsure about what it caused it and not wanting to think about it for too long.

“You look stressed out.” It was rare that David King actually talked to her outside of a trial, but now he was standing in front of her with crossed arms, looking down on her trembling body. 

“That’s exactly how I feel.”, she answered shortly.

“Weren’t in a trial for a while?”

“Yes.”

“Weird, don’t you think?”

The girl glanced at the other one but he just replied with a stubborn stare. She knew that he was watching her for some time now and he obviously thought now was a good time to come over.

“I already told everyone that I have no idea why this is happening.”

“And I think that you are lying.”

Amanda finally stood up. She clenched her fists and even if she had to look up to meet his eyes, she didn’t feel any smaller than him.  The Trapper had been way more scary.

“And what is your plan now? Punch me so I finally speak the ‘truth’?” Her voice was sharp and daring, definitely something the other didn’t expect at all. He didn’t step away but for a short moment you could see his muscles twitching for it. 

“I don’t hit girls.”

“So what’s your next step? Convincing me with sweet words? Or just staring at me like a dumbass?” 

David grunted and pointed his finger to her. “Watch your mouth, girl!”

“Or else?” Now it was her turn to cross her arms and put on a triumphal grin. David kept silent but grinded his teeth. He obviously didn’t expect this outcome of his question. The girl licked her lips. To see his face losing its poise was exciting and she dared to push him even more.

“Like I thought, only empty threats. You don’t dare to hit me not because I’m a girl, but because you are afraid of losing to someone who’s supposed to be smaller and weaker than you, right? Everything just to protect your little ego.”

The man suddenly grabbed her by the collar with both hands. His face was red out of anger and even if he was not touching her, she felt his fists trembling. Amanda knew that he wouldn’t go further than that.

“David!” When he got grabbed by the shoulder, he immediately let go of her. David turned around and looked into the face of the gambler, who was not amused at all.

“What’s the matter?”, he asked him sharply and David exploded. He punched him in the face and you could hear a nose crack. Ace stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

“Shit!” He hold his bleeding nose while you could see the panic rising in in Davids body. He looked around hectically and finally just left the place with strapping steps. Amanda got over to Ace to help him up again.

“I’m sorry Ace, that was actually my fault.” She escorted him to the nearest log so they could sit down together.

“He didn’t dare to punch me. You came back in the wrong moment.” She tried to examine his nose but he shoved her hands away.

“So you  _ did  _ provoke him?” He sounded a little bit mad.

“He confronted me, asked me, why I haven’t been called for a while. I got annoyed.”

“I know it’s tough for you right now, but are you sure that this was the only option?”

“Of course not. This should’ve hit me.”

“But here we are.”

“Ace, please, I’m sorry. He didn’t dare so he let out his anger on you…”

The gambler just mumbled something she couldn’t understand. A soft sight left her lips. “Let me make amends.”

She touched his thigh with one hand and the other one softly stroke his hair.

“I’m not in the mood.”

The girl took her hands away and snorted angrily. She actually would have loved to get hit by David. Not to protect Ace or because she thought she deserved it, but because she had hoped it would just push this tension out of her body. Unfortunately, the tension was still there and Ace was ‘not in the mood’ to help her redirecting it. Her eyes wandered to the others, chatting with each other nearby. Watching them through the flames of the campfire was interesting, it looked like they were aflame.

 

“Really? Again?” Ace hissed and looked at the dense mist around his feet. She saw in the distance that the detective was called too, along with David King.

“Oh hey, welcome to the club.” The girl looked down and saw the fog getting thick around her too. It’s been a while… and she had a bad feeling about it.


	16. Determination (II) + Epilog

It was the Lerys Institute and she started right in the middle of the realm with a generator in her line of sight. It was risky to start a it if you have no idea who you would face, but she didn’t mind at the moment. Something still was off. Amanda didn’t get called for along time, had a deep restlessness in her body and here and there some nose bleeding and headaches? And now she had to face a killer like nothing happened? No, that didn’t seem right.

 

Someone was watching her. It was a cold draft in her neck that lead her to turn around. Her eyes scanned the environment carefully and she finally spotted the stalker- it was Michael Myers. He stood in the middle of a hallway like he was made out of stone. Amanda swallowed but before she was able to run away, someone grabbed her by the shoulder. She twitched and turned on her heels. 

“Didn’t thought you’d be a scaredy cat.” It was David King, his hands now on his hips and his shoulders back, so he would look bigger. In addition, a derisive grin on his face. When Amanda looked over her shoulder again, the Shape was already gone.

“It’s Myers.”, she told him, completely ignoring what he said before.

“Ha, I’m not afraid.” David started to work with her on the generator, which wasn’t what she wanted, but telling him to leave would just end in a pointless argument anyway. The girl watched her surroundings carefully, but she couldn’t see his white mask anywhere. 

“What’s so special about him.”, the man suddenly asked without looking up from the generator.

“About who?”, she asked.

“Ace. He’s an old thin man and can’t even get a hit in the face without going down.”

Amanda stopped working on the generator and looked David directly into the eyes.

“I don’t know what your problem with him is, but this is not the right time or place to argue about it. I don’t care about your opinion about him anyway.” 

The other stopped working too, returning the look.

“But what do  **you** see in him? Or is the sex just good enough?”

“Why do you care so much?” Amanda already sounded furious. 

“Just tryin’ to understand.” David continued with the generator and they both fell silent again. 

The generator was nearly done, when he suddenly picked up the word again.

“If it’s just the sex, there are way better options for you.”

The girl was so surprised that she accidently attached the loose wire to the wrong point and the generator blew up. David laughed briefly and wanted to continue on the generator, but he suddenly hardly got kicked in the shoulder by her foot It took him by surprise. He lost balance and fell on his butt, but before he was able to get back up, Amanda placed her feet on his wide chest. He immediately grabbed her leg and pushed, but it didn’t move an inch like it was made out of iron. 

David looked into an evil face. The shadows around her eyes made them even more cold and piercing than they already were. The corners of her mouth were down, but she didn’t say anything. She only hold her position.

“Get off me!”, yelled the man and struggled. For some reason, he couldn’t move his torso at all. It didn’t matter how hard he tried to push himself up with his arms and legs again. 

“What the…” 

Suddenly her heel pressed harder into his chest and David howled out of pain. Amanda clenched her fists shortly. Seeing him like this felt empowering,and it was so easy to hold him down like that.

“You have no idea who you take on to.“, she whispered. Then she took his shoe of his chest. David coughed and rolled on his side. 

“You…”

The sudden kick right into his face knocked him out. Just in this moment, Amanda realised what she had done. She flinched back and hold her head with both hands.

_ Are you crazy? Are you stupid?  _ She grinded her teeth and after a short last look at his body, she finally ran away into one of the corridors.

David slowly opened his eyes again and groaned. His ribs were definitely broken and he failed to get up. There were footsteps echoing through one of the hallways and just a few seconds later, there were big shoes in front of him and some black pants covering strong legs. David tried to get up, but his vision started to blur. Suddenly, a large hand grabbed him by his throat and lifted him in the air. A sharp kitchen knife found his way into the ribcage and the last thing he saw was the haunting white mask of Michael Myers. 

 

Amanda did ran away as far as she could from the middle of the realm. She collected her breath and teared her black hair.  _ What did get into your goddamn mind?!  _ She hissed and pinched her eyes, while her body slided down on a white wall. The girl reviewed the moment in her head. She was angry at David, but why? It wasn’t because he insulted Ace. It was… just a feeling. Seeing his face, his big ego right next to her…

**_He deserved it._ **

She inhaled sharply. What she felt was similar to what she experienced against the Nightmare and against the Trapper.

**_Powerful. Strong. Impregnable._ **

Amanda took a couple more deep breaths until she got up again. She can’t turn the time back and this trial wasn’t over yet. 

“Amanda! Over here!” The familiar voice of detective Tapp caught her attention. She saw his hand waving and got over to him.

“Are you alright?” He asked and they both cowered behind a half wall near one of the exit gates. The girl just nodded slightly.

“It’s the Shape. I didn’t see him yet but I found Davids dead body in the center with a penetration in his torso. He’s bending the rules again.” The detective looked worried.

“That means he can kill each one of us immediately, right?”, she reasoned and he gave her a light nod. A gen got done in the distance.

“He will probably check there. I think we are save to go to another one.” They both got up and slowly moved through the institute, looking for a new generator. 

“Don’t worry about Ace. He’s daring, but not stupid.”

The girl tilted her head to one side. “I’m not worried about him.”

The detective gave her a strange look. than he pointed into a direction. 

“There is a gen in this corner. We can see both hallways pretty well, so he can’t surprise us.”

David Tapp went ahead and before she could follow, a dazzling effect suddenly made her pinching her eyes. She looked into its direction, couldn’t really tell what caused the reflection, but it was under a seating.

“There is something.”, she told the detective and he watched her going closer to whatever was under there.

When Amanda was closer, she finally recognised the shape of a big kitchen knife.

It looked exactly like the one Michael Myers had. The girl got onto her knees and carefully grabbed the knife by its handle.

“What did you find?”, David asked and looked up from the generator he was already working on. Amanda didn’t say anything at first but when she slowly got up and turned around to him, he saw it by himself.

“Dear lord.”, he whispered.

“What should I do with it?”, Amanda asked with a rising panic in her voice.

“I don’t know.” The detective got up from the generator.

“Are there two knives now? Or did he drop his?”

“Amanda, I really don’t know!” His voice was similar to hers. Suddenly his eyes fixed a point behind her.

The Shape stood in the hallway, watching them both… and his knife was missing.

“Get behind me, Amanda!”, the detective ordered sharply and she listened. She fixed the Shape with her eyes.

“Here is the plan.”, the detective said with a dulled voice, “I will try to get his attention and you will run away. Find a place to hide his weapon! He’s still deadly without it, but we’ll have way better chances if he doesn’t have it.”

The girl didn’t say anything, but stared at the white mask like she was hypnotized by it.

“Amanda!”, hissed the detective at her but she didn’t react. Her hands clenched the weapon in her hands.

“Get out already, didn’t you hear me? Run! Just ru-”

The tip of the knife drilled through his back. His mouth escaped a gargling and he stumbled forward. The moment he turned around with a shocked face, she dashed forward and cut his throat with one precise swing. He tried to hold his throat, but the blood ran through his fingers and the detective finally collapsed to the ground.

Amanda stared at him for a long moment with shaking hands. Not because she was scared, but out of excitement. 

_ So that’s what this feeling was all about… _

She looked at her bloody hands with widened eyes.  _ I need more. _

When Michael Myers finally moved forward, she looked up but remained where she was. He stopped just an arm length away from her and she could hear his heavy breathing under his mask. Amanda slowly reached out her hand, presenting him his own knife. He looked at it for a second, but eventually took it from her and their eyes met. To look into this black, bottomless holes in his mask was a surprisingly calming feeling. Nothing but emptiness was there and it had been a pleasure to her since she had rested at the edge of the woods. The Shape lowered his knife. He looked into her eyes for a second more, than slowly turned around and moved forward. Amanda followed him, not even looking at the detectives dead body.

He led her into the office of the institute with the large bookshelves on the side and the dark wooden table in the middle. Her eyes widened. On the top of the table was her precious pig mask and over the backrest of the chair lied her red cape. It felt like a dream coming true. The girl passed the Shape and grabbed her mask immediately. She lifted it and looked into the the dark holes that were just waiting to be filled again. But before that, she slightly lied her forehead on the pig’s head one and took a deep breath with eyes closed. It felt right and was the only right thing to do. The girl covered her head with the heavy masked and felt complete. Next she reached for her cape. With one elegant swing she slipped into the armholes and quickly button upped the jacket. Her head turned from left to right, like she was searching for something.

_ Where is my… _

Amanda turned around. The Shape had an arm stretched out and on his palm was her weapon lying. She smiled under her masked softly, actually wanting to say something, but she knew better. He was not a man of words and in his presence, no one should be. The girl just grabbed it and immediately attached it to her arm. 

_ Done. There is no way back. _

A generator just got finished and both of their heads turned into the direction of the sound. When the Shape stepped forward to go over there, she blocked his way, looking into his black eye holes. They stared at each other for a moment until Myers slightly nodded. The Pig walked out of the office and disappeared in one of the corridors.

 

***

 

The tension in his body was immense. Ace slowly and carefully moved around the realm, searching for some sign of life, or the hatch, whatever came first. He had already found the detectives and Davids dead bodies and was afraid of seeing Amanda lying around there somewhere too, but nothing. There were two generators done. If she was still alive, he wouldn’t be able to leave through hatch. But he also would be glad.  _ I’ll find her and then we will discuss our options.  _ Realistically, there wasn’t really much they could do. Doing the remaining gens was nearly impossible and since he couldn’t find a key while searching some chests,  both escaping through the hatch wasn’t an option either. Just one can escape and he really wanted her to live. He smiled sadly.  _ Sacrificing yourself for someone else… Man, I kinda became a better human being. _ While crouching through one of the bathrooms, he heard the ominous whisper of the hatch.  _ So he also got her… shit.  _ The gambler rushed forward. Suddenly, a figure turned around the corner, positioning itself between him and the sweet escape. Ace sharply inhaled.

“No…”, he whispered and looked into the face of the Pig.

“That’s a joke, right? A really funny joke. Just stop it.” He laughed nervously but the figure in front of him remained silent. 

“You are not Amanda. This is just some kind of halluzination.”  _ It has to be. _ Ace stepped forward and the Pig lifted her blade. As soon as he was in range, the killer swung her weapon. Ace was able to lift his arms to protect his torso, but the deep cut into his skin let him realize, that this was not an illusion. He flinched backwards and sweat ran down his face,

“You can’t be serious, Amanda! Not after all what happened.” The killer lowered her weapon and his blood dropped from the blade to the ground. 

“I don’t know what this creepy guy did to you, but that is not you. Not anymore! You are a survivor, remember? And you belong to me. On my side.” He tapped with his fingers on his chest but still, no reaction. He took a deep breath.

“I will tell you what will happen next. Listen carefully, sweety.” Ace licked his lips and walked one step closer.

“I will grab your hand. Than you will turn around with me and we both jump into this hatch. And once we are back at the campfire, I will tell you with a highly embarrassed face, that I love you. Understand? And then you will laugh at me, give me a kiss on my cheek and say ‘I know, dumbass’. How does that sound?” The Pig just stood there like she was a stature. Sie didn’t move, didn’t tilt her head or gave any sign to him. The gambler felt tears tearing up in the corners of his eyes.

“I trust you.” 

Ace stepped closer until he was already in range for another attack, but nothing happened. He carefully reached for her bladeless hand. His fingers softly touched the skin and he finally closed his hand around hers. Her fingers in his hand where twitching… and also closing. He laughed briefly and sniffed, looking into her hidden face.

 

The sharp blade cut his throat perfectly. He tried to cover it with his free hand but the blood just ran through his fingers. He sank to the ground but she didn’t let his other hand go. Ace coughed and his vision started to blur, watching the figure above him. She still hold his hand tight until he finally closed his eyes.

Amanda let his hand go and looked at the result. The hatch closed behind her and the trial was over.

 

****

 

**_Epilog_ **

 

Heavy footsteps echoed through the dark forest when the fat man slowly walked down the stairs of his rotten carriage. He coughed deeply and wiped the saliva on his mouth away with his sleeve. This place looked strange and definitely not like the woods he had rested in. “Where did you bring me, Maurice?” His loyale horse snickered, but it sounded deeper and almost haunting.

“Maurice?”, he asked again and walked around his carriage. Kenneth squinched his face in the moment he saw his horse’s decaying body. 

“What on earth…” He approached him and Maurice turned his head to his master, exposing his new third eye on his forehead. The Clown wanted to touch his neck, but since it was rotten the most, it moved upwards and touched the crest instead. 

Despite that he liked the new look of him (and Maurice seemed to didn’t mind it), he now definitely knew that something wasn’t right. Just in this moment he spotted a large campfire… and a small figure in red standing right next to it. 

“Who are you?”, he yelled to the figure, but it just turned and disappeared in the forest. Kenneth sniffed back his snot.

“She rarely speaks, but you will figure out soon.” The Clown spun around and looked into the face of a tall man. His body and head was covered in mud and he wore a dark cloak.

“And you?”, grunted the man, slowly moving his hand to his belt. There was a butterfly knife attached to it.

“I’m Philip. The Wraith.”

“The Wraith?” A deep laughter came from Kenneth. 

“Every killer here has a role. You are the Clown, I am the Wraith. The figure from before was the Pig.”

“Killer, heh?” His hand moved from his belt to his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a small bottle with dark liquid. He popped the cork with his thumb and took a large gulp. Philips eyes wandered over his carriage and horse. This was different, but also interesting. He looked over the Clown as well and spotted the unusual key chain on his belt.  Fingers were attached to it.

“Yes. You are a killer and you serve the entity from now on.” Kenneth finished his drink and dropped the bottle on the ground. He stepped closer to Philip and burped.

“A strange world… But if my duty is to kill, I will gladly fulfill it!” He laughed again and it resulted into coughing.

“I know I am a dangerous man.”, he gave the Wraith an evil grin, “and you look like you have some tricks in your sleeves as well.” The Clown tilted his head to the fire.

“But this small thing? Hard to believe. It looked like a girl with too big of mask to me.” 

“Don’t let her appearance fool you. She is indeed a girl and maybe the most human looking of all of us. But her connection to the entity is strong and if you underestimate her, you will regret it. 

Believe me… we all made this mistake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over, it's done.  
> I hope you enjoyed this journey! Thank you all for your comments and kudos, I really appreciate it! <3 
> 
> Stay save in the fog :)


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